Chevalier Noir
by Xekstrin
Summary: Team RWBY are all fully fledged huntresses in a poly relationship. But years ago, Ruby went missing without a trace. Blake and Yang come across her in a desolate village, far into the wilds, and try to bring her home. [Blake/Ruby/Yang/Weiss; TW: incest]
1. Chapter 1

"What do you mean you're huntresses?" the old woman said.

Blake and Yang glanced at each other, each quirking up one eyebrow at the same time. The chair was stiff and uncomfortable, the cushion threadbare, and even in the center of the Elder's office it was freezing cold. Angry, isolated villages were not their normal fare, but Weiss had sent them outside the walls to explore a series of ruins and underground caverns. They went in, took a few pictures, and were on their way back when they heard the distress signal on their radio frequency.

The Elder eyed them with open suspicion, lines deepening on her leathery face. "We already received the huntress on this case," she said. "And that huntress didn't say anything about working with a team. Do you expect me to pay extra for this surprise? Do you think we haven't met hot-blooded young things like you, trying to swindle innocent communities?"

Lifting up her hands for peace, Yang tried to talk her down. "No, Elder. I think you may be misunderstanding."

"Because that other huntress and I already settled on a price, and I won't have- I won't-" she was obviously flustered now, eyes darting down to Yang's gauntlets. Not for the first time, Yang wondered what life would be like if you didn't openly carry your weapons on your fists. "You hunters always think you can squeeze us for the last lien. Just because we're a border town doesn't mean we're idiots. You come in, say one huntress can do the job, then the rest of her cronies come in and say we underreported the threat and now the fee is higher for the task!"

"Blake and I work alone," Yang said. "This other huntress might have heard the same distress beacon at the same time we did, but arrived quicker." She got up to her feet, offering her hand to the Elder. "If you've already settled things with her, then we'll be on our way."

The Elder paused mid-breath, readying a fresh new rant. After looking at Yang's hand like it was a live snake, she finally accepted it and gave her hand a firm squeeze. "Of course," she said, getting up from her desk. Yang and her partner followed suit, politely waiting for the Elder to lead them to the door. "Of course. Excuse my…"

"Belligerence?" Blake suggested, speaking up for the first time. The Elder looked startled; Blake flashed her a sharp smile, completely devoid of humor without managing to dip into unkindness.

The same iron control that hid a pair of twitching ears for months could also make Blake's presence as huge and vivid as a flash bang grenade. Even the shadow cast by the fire carried weight, like it was thicker, denser. Like it could swallow the Elder whole as it crossed her. "You have to understand," the woman said. "Out here, some of your… associates take our isolation to mean the rules don't apply to them anymore."

Yang hummed in sympathy. She knew the Elder was telling an unfortunate truth; after exiting the room she gave Blake a little nudge in the ribs, a reminder to behave. "Of course, ma'am. We completely understand. No hard feelings."

Truth be told, Yang was glad. The ruins they explored had been so devoid of human activity for so long that they hadn't encountered a single Grimm; the closer you got to a human settlement, the more Grimm you encountered. Though of course you always ran the risk of running into an aberrant out in the wilds, some mad beast who'd been around since before the days of Dust. Yang always loved a fight, but today she was sore all over from clambering over a bunch of loose rocks, and she wanted to go home to Weiss, and take a long, hot shower.

The Elder led them to the door. Stepping out into the cold, Yang popped up the collar of her jacket, already trembling at the idea of trekking through miles of snow back to the city. They were a long ways away from paved roads. "You don't have to believe us," she said, grinning again at the Elder, "But we wouldn't have charged you for a case like this. We're old school like that."

"Well," the Elder said, "The other huntress asked a fee, but it wasn't an unreasonable one. If you see her out there, tell her there's a soft bed and a hot meal waiting for her in the public house."

"Sure." Yang tilted her head to the side. "What was her name?"

"She didn't tell us," the Elder said. "But there's no way to miss her. She dressed in scarlet, from head to toe."

Blake mirrored her again; the two of them did a double take, eyes widening before reaching out to grab the Elder by the shoulders.

"A huntress all in red?" Yang asked.

Blake spoke up. "Was she pale-skinned? Did she have black hair, did she carry a scythe? Or- or a rifle, about this size?" Letting go of the Elder, Blake stretched out two gloved hands, palms facing each other. "Did she have silver eyes?"

Startled, the Elder took a few steps back, pulling herself free. "I didn't see her eyes," she said, "But she had a rifle, yes. And a scar, right here-" she made a quick vertical slice down the right corner of her lips. "Does that help?"

"It might," Blake said, ears falling flat and eyes narrowing in thought. "Where did she go? Where's the Grimm infestation?

"Why? Is this woman some kind of criminal?"

"She's my sister," Yang said. "And you need to tell me everything you know."

* * *

.

* * *

They burned half their spare cash on a pair of horses, not trusting their feet to take them fast enough. Considering the value of tech out there in the wild, all the money in the world wouldn't have been enough to bribe one of the locals to part with anything driven by an engine.

The way her heart raced made her feel like this was her first tracking job, the first assignment she'd taken outside of Beacon. Panic made her mind go blank; she had to rely on Blake's keen eyes to find the trail, but when they did they were off like a bullet.

"How the hell are we going to find her out here?" Yang yelled, tossing her head to get stray blonde hairs out of her face. The wind kept whipping them about, and her goggles only helped so much. "It's a wasteland!"

"There's only a few places a Grimm horde could be nesting," Blake said. "We just have to pick the one she'd go after first and hope we find her!"

"And what if it's not her?"

"Then at least we-"

Cracking loud through the winds, a flare shot up just beyond the grove of trees, far to the East. It rocketed up into the air, exploding into a shatter of red sparks, and was quickly joined by another. Heart in her throat, Yang lead her mount towards it, racing the animal as fast as it could go. Soon, the sound of gunfire rang out, staccato and insistant and familiar.

Even now, Yang knew the sound of Ruby's rifle. Exactly how many rounds it carried, its firing rate, and the distinct ring of metal as it transformed. They broke through a patch of heavy foliage, leaping from their mounts to travel forward on foot where the horses were too shy to enter. The beast's eyes were wide with fear, nostrils flaring, looking like how Yang felt.

The scene as they came across it was the huntress in red, on foot and scythe extended as she backed away, trying to get range between her and the Grimm. Three Tyrants had her cornered, maws slavering; two dead ones were gathering dust on the side.

The pack leader rushed forward, snapping down like a bird to pluck Ruby right out of the snow. Biting down on nothing but a mouthful of petals, it lurched to the side when Ruby reappeared right above it, battering away with the blade of her scythe. But its scales were too tough; shooting it once, Ruby used the recoil to bounce away as the Tyrant reached over it's head, trying to swipe at her with three-toed claws.

Not even thinking, Yang rushed into the fray. She burned white-hot, a red mist hazing over everything as she lunged at the nearest Tyrant. It stood on two legs, towering over her by at least five meters, so the first order of business was bringing it down to size. Cracking her knuckles together and feeding off that small spark of pain, Yang aimed right for its joints.

The Tyrant's knee exploded inward; buckling down, it howled once before Yang's fist collided with its skull, blasting it into a pulpy mess.

Ringing metal and gunfire filled her senses, Dust and semblance filling the back of her mouth until she was standing in a muddy puddle of melted snow, steam rising all around her, and the Tyrants were all dead.

Breathing hard, Yang reloaded her gauntlets, waiting for another wave. But no more came; it was just the three of them in an empty clearing.

Ruby knelt over the remains of one of the Tyrants, making sure it was dissolving properly before she stood up. Pulling her hood back, she met Yang's eyes, her lips pressed into a thin, bloodless line.

"Ruby," Yang said, her voice hoarse.

Her feet moved of their own accord, striding over to Ruby.

Her sister took a few steps back, one hand darting down to her ribs as she shied away. "Don't-!" she started, and then stumbled. Yang paused mid-step, realizing she hadn't blinked once and doing so now, but still staring at Ruby as though she'd seen a ghost.

Blake swept past her, holding Ruby's wrist and pulling it away to reveal the blood blossoming on the fabric of her waistcoat. "You're injured," Blake said, letting her go. "Let's get back to town and take a look at it."

Ruby didn't say anything at first, just retreating further away until her back hit a tree on the edge of the clearing. Leaning heavily against it, she kept one hand pressed to her side, breathing heavily as her eyes flickered from between Yang and Blake.

"Ruby?" Yang prompted, trying to get closer again. "Ruby, it's me. Don't you recognize me?"

"Of course I do," she snapped, wiping her sweating forehead with the back of her forearm. "You shouldn't have come here."

"We saw your distress signal. You were injured before you started fighting those Tyrants, weren't you?" Blake unwound Gambol Shroud from around a thick forearm, threat lacing every word now. "Ruby Rose, you're coming with us, at least as far as the next town. Even if I have to drag you behind my horse."

That made Ruby smile, very sharp. Small, yet full of teeth. "Which horse? The one that ran off during the fight? Don't!" she said again when Blake approached, the ribbon stretched out taut. "Don't." She tried to move further away, but each step was laborious, her injuries taking over now that the adrenaline from the fight had faded. "Don't come near me."

Drawing Crescent Rose, she took aim. The barrel of the rifle quivered, and so did her knees, as she tried to step away.

"Do you know," Blake said, taking another careful step forward. "That you get a little pinch, right here-" the faunus pressed a thumb to two lips, focusing on the left corner. "When you're bluffing?"

Ruby's smile widened, ragged gasps spilling from her mouth. "Th- _that's_ how you always won at poker?" she demanded, laughing, and then wincing at the laugh.

When she fainted, it wasn't all at once. She fought it. First her knees buckled under her, but she struggled to remain upright. And then she fell- splat!- facedown onto the snow, Crescent Rose still clutched in one hand.

At first Yang thought it might have been some kind of prank to get them off guard, but Blake swooped in at once, rolling Ruby over and peeling open one eyelid. "No head wounds that I can see." Pinching Ruby's skin, Blake's tongue swiped over chapped lips. "Dehydrated, though. Exhausted. I think she passed out from blood loss," the faunus said, ripping open Ruby's shirt to see the wound. It looked like a bite mark; Ruby's Aura wasn't healing it properly. Searing the wound shut with a bolt of raw Aura was about all the field medicine Blake or Yang could muster up, but it had bought them valuable time before.

Blake straightened out, hefting Ruby up and slinging her over one shoulder. "Come on, let's get going before she wakes up."

"And after she wakes up?"

Blake's bright yellow eyes met Yang's in an unreadable stare. "We'll deal with it."

* * *

.

* * *

Yang wasn't there with her when she woke up. The town was small enough that there was only one doctor, but most border town doctors were worth their weight in lien. He set up an IV drip for the dehydration, and declared that other than a few broken ribs, Ruby was going to be fine.

"We should call Weiss," Yang said, once they had space to breathe. They were alone, just the two of them and Ruby passed out on the bed.

"Not yet," Blake said. "Weiss would send a whole fleet down to retrieve her."

"Well, yeah." Pulling off her coat- the doctor's house was adequately heated- she set over the back of a chair. "I'm not forcing Ruby to trek back home like this."

"Ruby doesn't want to go home."

Silence. Blake sighed, grinding eyes into the heels of two palms. Blake said, "Ruby hasn't been lost."

"Stop it." Yang pointed at Blake. "You stop. Right now. Not another word."

"She hasn't been lost, Yang," Blake continued, without pause. "She knew how to get home. It's exactly forty kilometers-" Blake gestured "That way, by foot. Quicker by horse. It's not like the walls of Vale are hard to miss. Now go take a walk."

Yang had been focusing on Ruby, watching the steady rise and fall of her chest as she slept. But at that, a spark jumped between her palms. Eyes lighting up with rage, Yang's head snapped up to regard Blake with naked fury. "Excuse-?!"

The faunus stepped closer, nudging Yang's boot with one foot. "You're gonna burn up the carpet," Blake said. Yang looked down to see it was true; though outwardly calm, Yang had been building up in temperature ever since the conversation started. "Go take a walk."

Still quietly fuming, Yang left without retrieving her coat. She walked the length of the town encampment, burning trails through the snow all through the night and well into the morning. By the time she had properly cooled down, she realized someone was following her.

Glaring sharply over one shoulder, she wrote it off as one of the villagers, an old man. He had a shovel propped against his shoulder, casually scraping aside the trails she made and evening them out in spots where she hadn't melted it all the way. When he noticed her looking at him, he gave her a small wave.

"Morning!"

"Hi," she said, shortly.

He approached her, swinging his shovel. "You one of the huntresses?"

"Yeah."

He grinned at her. "I owe you a drink, then."

"Yeah," Yang responded without thinking, before shaking her head to clear it. She gestured at the trails behind her. "I mean, no, don't worry about it. Sorry, is this your job or something? I hope I didn't make too big of a mess."

He reached out, offering his hand. She shook it firmly. "Community service, really. But you did it in half the time, and fairly neatly, too. And you took care of those Tyrant nests."

And she was stiff all over, now. The cold was beginning to seep into her bones. "Dad always made me clear the yard in the winter." Distant memories hovered over her, like wisps of smoke blowing in one ear and right out the other. Not enough for something sharp to recollect, but enough to distract her from the present. "Ruby did the… the other huntress dealt with the Tyrants. I just helped."

"The red huntress. She your girl?" the villager asked. "I saw last night, when the faunus took her to the Doc. You looked fit to fall apart, little lady."

Yang didn't have anything to say to that.

"That huntress, you know, I've seen her around now and again. Didn't speak much." He moved past her to begin clearing the path ahead. Warming herself up just enough to help, she walked at his side. "Never seen you two, though. Red over there always hunted alone."

"We hunted together when we were young," Yang said. "She took off without warning some years ago. Never saw her again, until now." Pausing, she covered her face with one hand, the admission allowing exhaustion to sweep over her. "I'll pass on a drink, but where can I get a decent cup of coffee around here?"

Lifting his shovel, the villager pointed out one of the nearby houses. "I'll brew you one myself, darlin'."

After a little touching up on the paths, they headed to his home. Sugar and heavy cream were luxuries, out here. But Yang had started taking it black, anyway, and the bitterness held its own appeal. "Thank you," she said, blinking blearily out in the window as the sun rose. "You said you'd seen Ruby before?"

The villager was fixing his own cup. "Yep. Most of the folk out here figured she was trouble, or runnin' from trouble, or headed towards some kinda trouble… But she killed the Grimm, and never stole or broke anything. People like that, we figure, if they want us to know their name and story, they'll tell us."

Yang barked in laughter. Of course. If any of the informants Weiss had hired came sniffing around, asking about a huntress in red, no one would have spilled. Whatever trouble she caused in the cities, out here, she was valuable.

"Red never charges us," the villager said. "Or when she does, it's only what she needs. Usually we just pay her in room or board… but sometimes not even that, when the times were scarce. And you know, last year, she helped the neighboring village during foaling season."

She could picture that, quite easily. Ruby with her sleeves rolled up, eagerly pitching in wherever she could. Yang's grip on the mug tightened, slightly. "You don't need to convince me Ruby is a good person," she said. "We won't tell anyone she's here, not that she's in trouble with the law or anything. She just…"

Left.

She just left us.

Yang finished her cup in a single gulp.

"She's a good girl," the villager said, after looking her up and down. Whatever answer he'd been searching for, he found it in their conversation. He patted Yang on the shoulder, fondly. "Whatever's goin' on with her, I want you to remember that she's never done a thing if she thought it would hurt somebody."

"Thanks," she said, drily.

When she stepped outside again, she was freezing. All her anger had simmered down, tempered by exhaustion, and so she ran to the doctor's house as soon as she could. The door opened and shut with a clatter, Yang shivering as she stepped inside and saw that Ruby was awake.

The huntress sat at the table, a knife in her hand, frozen in spot. She stared at Yang, looking like a startled deer.

"Yang," she said, throat bobbing.

And then she looked down and picked up a potato, quickly shearing it in a few sharp swipes before picking up another. Blake was feeding the wood stove, the doctor and his wife making small conversations around their coffee. Not sure what to do, Yang carefully strode over to the table, afraid Ruby might bolt if she made any sudden movements.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Peeling potatoes," Ruby supplied, unhelpfully. Though she looked sharp and alert, there were heavy shadows under her eyes, so deep they looked etched onto her skin.

"Helping the doctor cook breakfast," Blake said, cracking open an egg over a cast iron skillet. "Ruby threw a fit when we told her she had to stay in bed."

Stepping in, the doctor gave Yang a warm smile, pulling up a chair so she could sit as well. "Huntresses are the worst patients," he said. "So I told her she could move around as long as she didn't try to run or lift anything heavy."

Ruby grumbled. "I already told you my Aura will fix me up sooner than most people." It was so surreal to hear her voice that Yang kept quiet, still trying to process this. Years gone, and suddenly Ruby was sitting next to her in some backwater village, preparing breakfast.

He had a counter ready. "And I tell you huntresses if you rely on Aura too much, your body will forget how to mend itself on its own."

Rolling her eyes, Ruby started up another potato. "Chop these up, Yang?"

Yang could feel Blake's eyes on her, heavy with scrutiny. "Sure," Yang said. "You're doing that wrong by the way." She reached out, tapping the back of Ruby's palm. "Cut towards yourself for more control. You're gonna slice off your fingers if you're not careful."

"I'm peeling them, aren't I?" Ruby said, sinking lower in her chair.

"Yeah, but-" Yang paused. "I mean… whatever. Do whatever you like."

Sausages, hash browns, seasoned eggs, and thickly sliced homemade bread. Between all of them there was just enough to go around, and plenty of strong, black coffee. Seeing Ruby drink it without complaint cemented something terrible in Yang's heart.

"I'll help with the dishes," Yang mumbled. "Don't worry about it. And thanks so much for everything you've done here, Doc."

"Not a problem, Huntress Xiao Long. Now, I hope you don't find this rude, but I must be off now. One of the children have gotten sick and they need a house call." Bending down to kiss his wife, he bid them all farewell and left.

Blake then took her aside to start counting out bills; money didn't mean as much out here, but crafted materials and synthetic medicines could only be bought from the major cities, and only with 'real' lien. Meanwhile Yang gathered up all the plates and rinsed them out in frigid water, pulled right from a local well. Every so often she stole a glance over at Ruby, but the huntress just sat there, toying with her knife and not saying a word.

After a while Yang stopped looking, and when the kitchen was clean she was surprised to turn and see Ruby asleep in her chair. She sat upright, her arms folded over her chest, but her head had lolled forward somewhat. Even deep in sleep she looked fatigued, as though all the bed rest in the world could never be enough. Blake sat next to her, chin resting on the table as the faunus stared at the sleeping huntress.

Yellow eyes flicked over to meet Yang's, raw with pain.

* * *

.

* * *

Ruby awoke with a start, reaching for the knife that wasn't there. Yang knew she usually kept it in her boot, but she'd taken it from Ruby's grip when the huntress had fallen asleep. Then she'd carried Ruby back to bed.

"Rise and shine," Yang said. She uncoiled from the cushy chair in the corner of the room, setting the knife down on the bedside table where Ruby could reach it. Then she went back and sat down, chin on hand as she regarded Ruby.

Silver eyes sharpened, instantly alert as she looked around the room. Ruby tried to get up. A few halting starts and stops made her decide it wasn't worth it, and she flopped back against the pillows to look up at the ceiling. Her jaw was stubbornly locked, firm and strong. "How long was I out this time?"

"A day or so."

She turned her head to the side, cheek resting against the pillow. "You haven't told Weiss." It wasn't a question. "Where's Blake?"

"Nobody's home except us. Blake went out with the doctor's wife, helping the search for the horses. It's our fault they went missing."

Ruby's hand trembled, but she lifted her shirt to check on her wound. Bruises spread out, but not a single laceration remained. The flesh had mended, stitched together. Yang doubted she'd be out of commission for another night, at this rate. "My fault too," she said.

"Maybe," Yang agreed. "Blake and I have a room in the public house while you stay here in the doctor's guest room. Is that alright with you?"

"That's fine." She didn't look at Yang, or couldn't look at her. "Anything to eat around here?"

"Sure. Stay put." The doctor's wife made bone marrow stew, rich and thick with vegetables. Heating up a bowl for Ruby on the stove, Yang felt again the miasma of nostalgia, of days taking care of Ruby when their father wasn't there- emotionally or physically. When she went back to the room Ruby had closed her eyes, but Yang could tell she wasn't asleep.

"If it were up to me," Yang said, and at the sound of her voice Ruby's eyelids fluttered open. "I'd take you downtown and get you a nice steak." She perched on the side of Ruby's bed, offering her a spoonful of soup. She expected Ruby to whine or complain- Ruby had always hated being coddled- but Ruby accepted it without a fuss. "Lots of red meat to make up for the blood you lost."

"I'm pretty sure the doctor wouldn't approve of that."

"Pffft." Yang winked at her. "What does he know?"

For the first time, Ruby smiled. A glimmer of innocence shone in it, of the girl who had left one day on a routine mission and never came back. Yang shattered at the sight. She set the bowl down to reach for Ruby, holding her by the back of her head and pulling her into a kiss. Ruby responded at once, sitting up to grasp onto Yang's shirt, clutching at Yang like she was drowning and Yang was the only solid thing in sight.

And then she started crying, silently, so that Yang didn't notice until she tasted salt and flinched away in shock. "Ruby-"

"Don't." Ruby said again, fitfully wiping away her tears. "Don't. Just don't."

"Don't what?" she asked, trying to be gentle. Ruby didn't seem to be talking about her touch, didn't recoil when Yang brushed away her tears with a thumb and held her again, rocking her gently.

Pressing her face into the hollow of Yang's shoulder, she let out a broken sob. "Don't be nice to me," she said, the words stammering. "Y-you're just going to make it harder-"

"To leave me again?"

There was no judgement or anger in the words, but Ruby stiffened up in her arms like she had been shot.

"You're in danger just being around me," she said in a hushed whisper, holding onto Yang for dear life, and it all suddenly clicked.

She tried to break this down, reading between the lines, pushing away her own anger and betrayal to think: _what would make me leave Ruby?_

And the answer: _nothing_.

"You didn't leave." She stroked down Ruby's back, feeling the promise of heat even now. The raw pleasure of touching her, holding her, made it hard to string words together. "Someone took you. Someone powerful. You think, powerful enough that we're at risk by association."

Her sister laughed, nervous giggles. "Th-this is why I didn't want to come back. I'm shit at hiding secrets from you, Yang."

Distancing herself enough to hold into Ruby's face, she kissed away her tears as they fell, silencing her with mouth and tongue when she tried to protest. Ruby groaned at the contact, confused and painful noises of longing. "Meimei, talk to me. What do you think is going to happen? If you're in trouble- damn it, you need to let us help you! Whatever is happening, whatever you think you need to do alone- we can help. I promise you."

Ruby licked her lips, eyes darting away. "I don't know."

Yang's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I don't remember." Blood rose in her face, shame tempered by rage. "I… I don't want to talk about this without Blake here."

Yang agreed, stroking her face to calm her. "That's fine. We'll wait for them here." She took the bowl of soup again, making Ruby eat the rest. Occasionally she'd pause to kiss her, the salt of blood and health fresh on Ruby's tongue. When she was done Ruby dragged herself out of bed to the bathroom, taking a frigid bath and cleaning herself up. Just that was enough to tire her, and when Yang had dried her down and fluffed up her pillows Ruby was already asleep.

Yang stayed next to her, holding her hand until Blake returned.

* * *

.

* * *

"Are you going to come home with us?"

The words were weighted, dragged like iron boots. Ruby didn't answer, linking arms with Blake and holding the faunus closer as they walked around the village. They'd been here for three days- still within the timeframe of the expedition Weiss had sent them on, so there was no suspicion roused just yet. Yang didn't know how to feel about keeping her in the dark.

There was no way any of them could drag Ruby anywhere she didn't want to go. She knew this and knew that Ruby would shy away from a firm touch, and they'd lose their chance to convince her. And Weiss, she lost her softness in her passion. Right now they needed to tread carefully in this china shop; if that meant keeping the bull blindfolded for now, that's just what they'd have to do.

"I promised myself I wouldn't," Ruby said at last, resignation weighing her down. "I didn't expect to find you guys out here." She shot a baleful glance in the direction of Vale. "But I guess coming this close to the walls was a bad move."

"I wouldn't say that." Glancing around them to see if anyone was near, Yang ducked forward to give her a peck on the lips. "Now. Tell us what happened."

Yang was close enough to feel Ruby shiver from head to toe, and she wasn't sure if it was from the cold. "I went out on the mission," she said. "The rest is blank. One day I woke up in an unfamiliar place to learn ten months had passed."

"...That's all?" Blake said in disbelief.

"That's all."

She stopped walking to hold her head for a moment, swaying unsteadily on her feet. Yang and Blake closed in, each holding on to an arm in case she fell again. Sharpening up, Ruby shook them off with a laugh and a mean smile. "Oh, come on. I'm not that fragile." She walked alone then, her hands buried deep in her pockets.

"So you don't know how it happened?"

"No," Ruby said, "But I knew I woke up outside the walls, and had been there for some time. People recognized me. And I had…" she untucked the front of her shirt, hitching it up a bit to show Yang something. A tattoo. "This thing. Felt like a signature. It doesn't mean anything to me."

"What is it?" Yang asked.

"A chess piece." Ruby swallowed. "A black knight."

They kept walking. Blake said, "And you think someone who could do something like this wouldn't want you walking around telling tales."

"Something like that. It was almost a compulsion. Every time I thought about trying to find you… I couldn't. I couldn't go near the walls. But even before I tried that, I had to… remember some stuff." She rubbed her temples, eyes closing. "I was lost. Didn't know my own name. Didn't know _your_ name," she said, casting a look at Yang. "I don't know what happened to me. But if they nabbed me so easily- what would they do- what might they-"

A sneezing fit overtook her, one right after the other. Eyebrows raising and lips turning down, Blake grabbed onto Ruby's shoulders and led her back to the public house. The three of them were sharing a room there, grateful for the doctor's generosity but uncomfortable being separate from Ruby. "Back to warmth with you, my dear," Blake said, bending down to kiss the top of Ruby's head. "That's enough fresh air for one day."

"I have a treat waiting for you, too." Yang felt a small skip in her steps. "I think you'll like it."

They thawed out in the main room of the public house, enjoying the company of the other villagers. Ruby wanted to run into the kitchens to help prepare lunch, and it took both Blake and Yang holding her back to keep her off her feet. "You need to be resting," Blake reminded her.

"I hate it," Ruby said. "My ribs all healed now, you know, my Aura patched me up after the doctor set everything in the proper place."

"You're going to rest," Yang said, "Because we're going to take care of you. Like we should have, from day one." She kissed Ruby's forehead, an arm around her shoulders as they sat at one of the long tables. "And when we call Weiss and tell her, she'll take care of you too."

The dark, brooding air returned to Ruby's expression. "I'm the leader," she said, silver eyes looking intense. "I was the one who took care of things. I shouldn't have to pass it off onto you."

"And you should know better than to think we'd let you shoulder this alone." Blake squeezed in next to her, pressing in close to kiss her on the lips. "Now stay right there."

Blake's boots thumped away on the wooden floor, quickly returning with a mug of something hot. Ruby's eyes widened at the smell, and Yang felt a distinct coil of pleasure unwind to see Ruby take the mug and whiff it again, just to be sure.

"Ohhh," Ruby said, her voice trembling. "Hot chocolate?"

Sugar and other real sweeteners were hard to come by out here. But Yang had a little care package from Weiss stashed away in her luggage, one with goodies saved for a rainy day. It was squashed up behind her socks, but vaccuum sealed for freshness. "Just think, Ruby," Yang said with a grin. "Back in civilization, you could have this every day. Wink." And then she actually winked.

"This is extortion," Ruby said, taking a sip and shivering again. "Oh, blackmail! Treason of the highest degree. How dare you." She drained it without hesitation, licking the foam from her lips. "...Damn it."

"If a cup of chocolate is all it takes to change your mind," Blake said, "I think I can understand why you might have avoided us for this long."

"I already told you why I did it," Ruby muttered, not reacting well to the jibe. Sensing it, Blake leaned down to kiss her; Yang saw a flash of tongue, probably tasting the chocolate.

"Missed a spot," Yang noticed with no small amount of satisfaction. She licked her thumb, wiping at the corner of Ruby's lip and bringing the speck of chocolate back to her own mouth to suck it clean. "Still, you can think on it. We know if we bring you back in cuffs you'll find a way out." Under the table, she took Ruby's hand. "You have to want to come home, Ruby."

"I do want to come home," she said, returning the grip. "I do. I'm just scared."

"We won't let anyone hurt you again," Yang promised. "You know we'd do anything for you."

"Then can you kiss me again?"

Blake's eyebrows quirked up in amusement. Turning red, Yang let go of Ruby's hand to cover her mouth, leaning forward on the table, eyes closed in consternation. "Um… Um, there's a reason I've only been kissing you in private," she said, refusing to look at Ruby. "I wasn't thinking and I told everyone here you were my sister already."

Ruby slapped a palm to her face. "Oh, Yang..."

"I'm sorry! It was habit!" Yang hissed. "And now I can't take it back, okay?"

"Then…" She ducked her head low, turning red as well. "Take somewhere private... so you can kiss me...?"

"Can do."

Leaving the mug where it was, Yang let Blake hold Ruby's hand as they went up to their room. They'd asked for two beds, but that was just a matter of habit, too. As soon as the door clicked shut Yang bent down to kiss Ruby, a sweetness still clinging to her lips.

"You _are_ my girl," Yang said suddenly, kissing her again. "My girl."

Blake lifted one hand up, clearing their throat.

"Blake's, too," Yang corrected herself. "And Weiss'." Her scroll clicked to life as she offered it to Ruby, Weiss' name listed on the top of the screen. "Would you like to call her and say hello?"

Gloved hands lifted up, hesitantly. And then she took the scroll, tapping the call button. It rang, five times, each trill of the artificial bell seeming to last forever. Just when Yang was about to suggest hanging up and trying again, they heard Weiss' voice through speaker. Agitated, as usual.

"Yang? Blake?" Weiss said, her voice cracking with static. "Is that you? Everything all right?"

"Everything is fine," Yang said. "Can you hear us loud and clear?"

"Crystal. Still arriving home in two days?" There was a scramble of static. "...to pick you up, snow storm headed your way. None of the ships are willing to fly out. Please stay safe tonight or get home quick, if you're outside a village." Yang made a noise of agreement, moving to go perch on the edge of her bed. "Where are you? Did you find what we were looking for?"

Blake gave her the coordinates. "We found something."

A sigh of frustration, clear even through their bad connection. It made Ruby smile, a covered smile behind one hand. "Well? Don't keep me guessing, dear, what is it?"

"Weiss," Ruby said, holding the scroll up to her mouth. "It's me."

Dead silence, and then the connection was lost. Alarmed, Ruby looked up at Blake, eyes pleading. But in a few moments, the scroll had started ringing again. Answering on speaker, Ruby said, "Hello?"

Weiss voice was garbled, the signal lost beyond recognition. The only thing Yang could make out was Ruby's name, and her own name, and the occasional swear word and, for a few moments of clarity, what sounded like a tearful sob. Line going dead again, Ruby sighed and set the scroll away.

Yang tucked her legs underneath her, kicking off her boots so she didn't get any mud on the bedsheets. "Storm must be setting in, like she said."

Frowning deeply, Blake tucked two arms underneath Ruby's, holding her for the comfort of it. "I hope she doesn't try coming out here herself…"

"She definitely will," Yang said. "When Weiss sees something she wants, a horde of Grimm couldn't stop her. Stubborn."

Blake suddenly grabbed a handful of Ruby's hair, pulling on it lightly to angle her head back for a kiss. "Sounds like someone we know." Body flush against Ruby's, Blake bent both knees to reach her better, the black leather of their gloves skirting down Ruby's back. There was hunger in the kiss, starvation and pain, and when Ruby pulled away she was red in the face, torn between guilt and desire.

"Blake-" Ruby started, the mumbling start to an apology, but Blake cut her off with another kiss. It didn't work for long, even as Blake untucked her shirt and began to unbutton it. "Do you think- Weiss- I'm worried- how mad is she gonna be?"

"Furious," Blake said, and led the next kiss by the teeth.

At first, Yang was content to watch. Blake had been so patient, the strongest out of all of them. Even now, Blake hadn't done anything, said anything to give away how much Ruby's disappearance had affected them all.

So yes. If Blake wanted first taste, Yang was glad to give it. She watched Blake undress Ruby, resisting the urge to hiss at the scars that sprouted up on pale skin- unfamiliar marks, poorly healed wounds, and that tattoo. The black knight rested on her hip, just small enough to be covered by a palm as Blake picked Ruby up and set her down next to Yang on the bed. Her feet dangled off the edge, spread wide for Blake to kneel between them on the floor, kissing her bare stomach while Yang kept her lips busy.

"Is this what you wanted?" she asked Ruby as Blake went lower, pushing her bangs back to kiss her forehead, lips pressing tight to leave a playful smack.

Ruby couldn't answer properly, her lips parted with trembling breaths. The scar on her lip looked deep, like it'd been left by the claw of a Nevermore and left to bleed. Yang kissed that, too, feeling some of that same hunger, wanting to eat her whole.

Sitting back on two heels, Blake was kissing down the length of Ruby's leg, pausing at the end of her calf to climb up the other one. Low rumbles could be heard, resounding through the room. Blake purred louder at the crease of Ruby's thigh, pink tongue darting out to taste the wetness already clinging there. "Wow. When was the last time you got off, Ruby?" Blake asked with open amusement. But even the teasing felt like there was something raw underneath.

Ruby squirmed, forcing Yang to press closer and sprawl out next to her. "Kiss-" Ruby started, but Yang obeyed before she could finish, running hands over the faint bruises that still lined Ruby's ribs. Her sister made small noises of pleasure into her mouth, pulled at her clothes to try and get her naked too. Wrapping Ruby up in her arms, Yang held her still, stroking her head and whispering into her ear how much she loved her as Blake held her open and sucked.

" _God_ -!" Ruby shouted, her grip tightening on Yang. Beneath them, Blake laughed, a low chuckle. "I need- I need-"

"Ruby, shh." Yang pressed a palm over her mouth, not very firm, but enough to remind her of where they were. "Save that for when we're safe at home, baby."

The winds picked up up outside, loud enough that maybe they could risk a little noise. But Yang took greater pleasure in the softer sounds: Ruby's slickness against Blake's mouth, her helpless moans, the bed creaking under every idle shift of their body weight. A light sheen of sweat built up on Ruby's belly; Yang trailed her fingers through it, little ghostly touches raising goosebumps wherever they led.

A low groan built in her throat, rising up in volume until her voice cracked. She stiffened, hips arching off the bed and her eyes squeezed tightly shut. And then she seemed to float back down, melting in Yang's arms. Getting up, Blake wiped their mouth on the back of one hand before settling both knees on the mattress, curling down on all fours to hold Ruby by the face and kiss her.

"You too," Blake murmured, breath hot on Yang's lips.

But she shook her head no. "I'd rather just watch for now. What do you want, Blake?"

After peeling off a sweat-soaked shirt, Blake touched themselves over the strain in their pants, undoing the top button but nothing more. "I'm not certain I can do what I want without hurting Ruby."

A wicked sparkle lit up in Ruby's eyes, scarred corner of her lip curling up in a smile. "My rib won't break again so easily, you know."

"Do I?" Blake asked, voice coming out as a low rumble when Ruby cupped a hand between their legs. Tightening her grip, Ruby stroked once, and the purring intensified. Not sure how either of them had the patience for this, Yang snuggled up closer to Ruby, reaching over to unzip Blake's pants. Tugging them down until they were trapped on Blake's thighs, she took Ruby's hand and used it to touch Blake directly.

Blake's hips jerked forward, a pained groan rewarded with steady, even strokes. Satisfied that Ruby was pleasing Blake properly, Yang reached down her own pants to touch herself. Seeing her partners together was always enough to set her off, sometimes faster than when any of them put their full attention on her. Shuffling to fit between Ruby's knees, Blake sat up and held Ruby's lips open again, rubbing the tip of their shaft between them to hint at penetration without actually giving it to her.

Pressing two fingers in, Blake fucked her manually while wondering out loud, "Do we need a condom?"

Ruby shook her head no, only Yang's hand on her as a reminder keeping from bucking too hard onto Blake's fingers. Without skipping a beat, Blake replaced fingers with a hard shaft. The high whine it tore out of her throat sent Yang quietly over the edge, shivering uncontrollably as her own cunt pulsed under her fingers.

She drew the last of her pleasure out with two fingers, sighing in happiness as Blake fucked Ruby too gently for either of them to get off. Ruby was already desperate because of it, struggling and insisting that she could handle more. "Blake, I c-can't come again like this."

"Oh, I know, sweetheart." The flat of Blake's tongue dragged up her cheek, prompting Ruby to squeal in complaint. "Trust me, I know."

"You're mean!" she whined, nails scratching down Blake's back hard enough to leave a mark.

Yang was about to agree when an idea struck her. She hopped off the bed, making the other two stop for a moment. "What are you doing?" Blake wanted to know, pulling Ruby up so that she could fit comfortably on Blake's lap, her legs wrapped tightly around Blake's bare waist.

"Participating." In her care package, she found exactly what she needed- a few finger cots, and a small bottle of lube. Turning around, she shook it at her partners with a wink, and Ruby turned so red it looked life-threatening.

"I-is that for me or for Blake?" she asked.

Tugging off the rest of her clothing, Yang twitched her head to the side, the arch of her eyebrows saying what she thought should have been obvious.

"O-oh." Ruby muttered, squirming on top of Blake, who kept her pinned in place once they realized she was getting flustered. Two hands clasping her firmly by the waist, Blake pushed hips up as Ruby was forced to grind down, and started fucking her again.

"You don't want to?" Blake asked, kissing her delicately on the collarbone. "You know how good it feels when you come like that."

"Harder," Yang told Blake, unwrapping the cots and rolling them on. At her word, Blake only stopped long enough to collapse over onto their side, pulling Ruby with them and hooking one of her legs over their hips. Ruby whimpered with every fierce thrust, twisting and arching to get Blake fully inside her each time. Blake's pelvis was slick with Ruby's arousal, the awkward angle making it hard for Ruby to get any kind of relief unless she pressed as close as she could to Blake, trying to find something solid to rub against. Yang slid in behind Ruby, pressed her chest up against her back, and kissed the nape of her neck.

"We know what you like, Ruby," Yang breathed into her ear, loving how she gasped in response to the press of one lubed finger against her asshole.

"Y-yeah. Yes." Ruby pressed her forehead against Blake, one arm looped around the faunus' head and the other reaching blindly behind her, trying to find Yang. Grinning, Yang caught her finger in between her lips, sucking and rolling her tongue around it. "Please."

Ruby pulled her hand free just to grab onto the back of Yang's head, holding her closer. "Now go easy, Blake," Yang said, smothering Ruby with kiss after kiss, anywhere she could reach.

It took Blake longer to respond this time, hips shuddering to a more gentle pace as Ruby continued to try and ride them, torn between pressing forward and arching back. "How many fingers do you want, puppy?" Blake asked, teeth catching her lips.

She could only gasp and cry, and Yang felt her own arousal stir again, promising another climax if she wanted to chase after it. She knew how good Ruby must feel, loose and soaked after her first orgasm, and she knew how intense being shared could feel. "Just one for now," Yang answered for her, pausing to add more lube as her finger pumped inside Ruby, all the way up to the knuckle. "It's been a while."

"Mmm." Blake kept even, but every so often a noise of pleasure would escape them and they'd forget themselves, sinking into Ruby as fast and as hard as they could before tapering off. "I-I'm right on the edge. Just tell me when."

"When I come," Ruby managed to say. "Then you can- then you can." She bumped her forehead against Blake's broad chest again, a scream held back only by how tightly she bit into the faunus' skin. "Yang, I n-need-"

"I know, I know, you don't need to beg for it," Yang said, propping up enough that both arms were free, one hand fucking Ruby as the other grabbed her by the roundest part of her hip. It squeezed before slipping forward, trapped between the slick muscle of Blake's abdomen and Ruby's pelvis.

Torturously slow, she stroked Ruby's lips, putting pressure on her clit indirectly until she really was begging for it. Ruby's clit was hard, the way it only got when she was about to come. All she needed was a little coaxing, wide, gentle circles with the flat of Yang's fingers. Forgetting herself, Ruby screamed, the sound of it like a growl between her tightly locked jaws. Laughing, Blake came inside her, laughter tapering off into helpless whines.

Breathing heavily, Ruby went completely limp. Blake stroked her sweat-streaked hair out of her face, kissing her on her lips and cheeks. Nuzzling her back, Yang did the same to her neck and back as she slowly pulled free, murmuring for Ruby to relax.

"Come on," Blake said after a while, and Yang could sense that it was getting darker outside. The storm picked up in intensity, rattling the whole building. "Shower time."

"No," Ruby said, pressing her thighs together and wriggling.

"Yes," Blake said.

"Nooo!"

Not asking again, Blake slid of the bed, picking Ruby up without a fuss and carting her to the small bathroom attached to their living space. Just about to join them, Yang tossed the finger cots into a spare bag where they were keeping their garbage when her scroll started buzzing.

It was Weiss. "Oh!" Yang said, grinning from ear to ear. "You reached us!"

"Put Ruby on," Weiss said at once. "That was her, wasn't it? That was her!"

"It was," Yang agreed, nudging open the door to the bathroom. Water spilled into the tub, freezing cold, and Blake and Ruby were quietly trying to engineer a way to warm it up with what little red Dust they had available. "She's right here. We're all safe. I'll put her on."

"Ah, wait!" Weiss said, making Yang pause. "Before you do. One thing, very important. I forgot to ask you."

"Mhm?" Yang wondered out loud, smiling at the steam that rose from the bathwater. Blake held Ruby by the waist, lifting her up with a shout of joy, victory.

"I've been looking into those ruins I sent you to examine," Weiss said. "And there's already another company digging around for the same information."

"Ohh?" Yang said, interest genuinely piqued now.

"Tell me," Weiss said, the sound of papers shuffling on her desk loud and clear. "Do the words ' _chevalier noir_ ' mean anything to you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Work didn't end once she got home. After all the office lights were turned off and the chains of command slithered to the floor, coiled up to rest, Weiss would continue until... until...

Until she passed out at her desk.

Weiss dreamed that Ruby had always been there.

In the dream Ruby still wore the same combat boots she'd worn in Beacon. Sturdy, black, loud. She heard Ruby's heavy steps against white marble floors. It was so real Weiss could feel the wool rubbing against her face, the scent of pine trees and rose petals. Strong arms wrapped around her, spooning her until the morning.

Weiss awoke on her bed in a pile of papers, still wearing yesterday's suit.

Staring at the ceiling, she wondered: _why now?_

Why now, after years of absence. She'd worked hard to forget about Ruby, convinced herself she was never coming back. Initially the other two thought maybe Ruby was in danger, but not Weiss. Not for long, anyway. She knew nothing would ever take Ruby from her by force, that no one— not gods, monsters, or men— could make Ruby Rose do anything she didn't want to do.

So when she got the call confirming what she'd always known but never dared speak, Weiss wasn't surprised.

She rubbed her palm against her eyes, trying hard to fight back against the overwhelming pain in her chest. An ache, a vise-like grip.

The scroll in her hand blinked at 1% battery. Open all night, it still blinked on the same message.

 _We're coming home tomorrow._

* * *

.

* * *

The guards at the gate gave her three minutes warning. So when Ruby arrived, Weiss was waiting in the foyer with her arms crossed.

Earlier that morning had been an exercise in sartorial passive aggression. Weiss wanted to present a certain image when they reunited. Every detail of her outfit stood out starkly white, pressed into lines so crisp they seemed like ink strokes. She allowed very little color. Just the blood-red ascot wrapped around her neck, tucked into the collar of her dress shirt.

Weiss wasn't prepared for Ruby to look different. Her hair shorter, spiked mostly with sweat from the long journey home. Coarse, buffed leather creaked, a long coat tapered off at her ankles.

She had a black duffel bag slung over one shoulder and Crescent Rose perched on the small of her back. Hunger caressed every inch of her. Uncomfortably lean, with dark shadows stamped under her eyes, Ruby looked like a hundred other border huntresses. The ones who left the cities and never came back.

"Hi, Weiss," she said.

Weiss just stood there, almost stoic if you ignored the frigidity in the air.

The other two exchanged alarmed looks, not sure how to proceed. Or if they should intervene.

"...Go clean yourself up. There's a guest room just past the staircase." Weiss sharply twitched her head in the general direction. She kept her arms crossed, body language completely closed off. "I have clothes for you to change into."

When Ruby meekly followed her orders, Weiss did not turn her gaze to follow the huntress. She waited, listening for the sound of her boots to fade before she spoke again.

The boots sounded different.

Weiss wasn't sure why she expected Ruby's steps to sound the same.

Then she turned to Blake and Yang to get a status report on chevalier noir.

"This is something outside government or hunter jurisdiction." She pulled out her scroll, swiping through everything she'd gathered together. Tapping it twice, it expanded upwards into a holographic spiderweb of information. Names and organizations linked together by bank accounts and common interests.

Taking the scroll from Weiss, Blake moved to the office, letting the other two follow. The faunus set the tablet down and pulled up more names, highlighting them on the map. "These were the companies that tried digging up those ruins we investigated last week." Blake's eyes narrowed fractionally. "Also investing heavily in weaponry R&D, I see."

Yang didn't sound convinced by any of this. "Could be a coincidence."

Wisely, neither of them brought up anything about Ruby.

"Whenever anything involves this much money, nothing is a coincidence."

"Okay. Say you're right. What does it mean?"

"...I don't know yet," Weiss admitted. "But this goes back further than when Ozpin vanished." A list of names appeared on the screen, replacing the companies. All of them, missing huntresses. "Twenty other Beacon alumni disappeared the same time."

Yang frowned, brows creasing. "Someone's snagging huntresses?"

"Yes, but not at random. There's got to be some connection between them. I'm not sure what it could be yet, but it's there." With a swipe of her hand, the images were dragged back down onto the scroll's screen. "I have all the pieces, I know I do. I just have no idea how they're supposed to fit together."

"So whoever this was... wasn't targeting Ruby specifically? Maybe?" Yang suggested, and again Weiss went cold and quiet.

"Maybe," Weiss said.

And then silence.

And then: "Does she have a place to stay for the night?"

It would have been more satisfying if if either of them responded with aggression to the veiled insult, the unspoken promise: _Because she's not staying here._

"She can stay at my place." Blake stepped in smoothly. The faunus was a born politician, even if the label refused to stick. The skills were innate, the poise and grace of a diplomat and the cutting tongue to defend against all slights, perceived or intended.

"Fine." Weiss pressed her lips shut, sealing them against everything she wanted to say. She left before her fury made her do something she would regret.

Through wooden doors she heard voices, one of them unfamiliar. Ruby's voice had changed. It had to be her voice, because the other two were pressed into her soul. She knew everything about them, about how they looked and felt and smelled, how the air escaped their lungs in every possible scenario for every possible emotion.

She wasn't sure why she expected Ruby to still sound the same.

Weiss waited until Ruby was gone before she did anything else. Eventually the noises died down and she knew the three of them must have left.

Of course they did. Of course they did.

After organizing her office, she locked the door to her bedroom and stood there, back pressed to the wood. Her whole head buzzed, the cold air pressing her naked skin. The blazer, dress shirt, ascot, boots peeled off like sections of armor. She barely realized what she was doing, letting it fall onto her bedroom floor without picking it up.

Stepping into a robe, she sat down at her desk and booted up the computer. On some level she knew she worked too much, but being idle drove her crazy and she needed something that made sense and followed rules.

For more than just the sake of SDC interests, she had to get to the bottom of the mystery.

This threat of the chevalier noir, this black knight, would not stand while she held any claim to power.

She would crush it, if for no other reason than them daring to operate without her permission.

There was a knock on her office door later that night, long after she sent the rest of her staff home. A measure of silence passed before she gruffly spoke. "Come in, Yang."

Weiss knew it was her because she knew the way Yang's hand sounded against the wood, the light tap, the strength kept barely in check. She knew the way Yang smelled and felt, knew every inch of her inside out. She could recognize Yang's footsteps in a crowded hallway, if pressed.

Yang poked her head in, smiling hugely. She kept most of her body outside the doorframe, like she was still waiting to be asked inside. Needing extra permission for the rest of her.

Though Weiss was still closed off, affection battered at the walls she'd built up around her heart. "I thought you might have left with the other two." Weiss spoke as evenly as she could.

"Not even going to say their names, huh?" Sauntering inside, Yang toed the door shut behind her. "Are you going to punish Blake for taking Ruby's side in... whatever it was that happened back there?"

"Of course not."

Weiss returned to her document, tapping out her pen in an anxious rhythm.

Papers littered her desk, while on screen the endless web of conspiracy stretched out before her. It all melded together. The same sentence repeating over and over.

Weiss sighed. "...I should put this aside. Go to bed. And look at it more in the morning."

"Ooh, that's the smartest thing you've said all month." Yang wrapped her arms around Weiss from behind. "I wasn't going to point it out, but you're breaking the pajama rule."

She stroked broad forearms with a single hand, letting her fingertips rest there. "I'm tired, Yang."

"No work while wearing pajamas."

"I know."

No matter how many times it happened, Weiss couldn't get over the sensation of being lifted as though she were no lighter than a doll. Yang ducked down, easily scooping her into a princess carry. "Do you want to sleep together?" she asked, in the way only Yang could. Completely earnest and eager, yet devoid of expectation. "Or should I go to the guest room?"

Weiss couldn't answer at first, her arms looped around Yang's shoulders. One hand slipped higher to stroke Yang's cheek, push that thick curtain of blonde hair back. With a confused smile, Yang tilted her head to the side, waiting for an answer.

"Why aren't you with them?" Weiss managed to pull herself away from those eyes long enough to speak. She knew how she must look, exhausted and starved, hungry for touch as much as anything else. Without the other two around to remind her she always skipped meals, worked herself down to the bone.

And now they came back from their mission with... This.

With _her_.

"Cause I thought maybe you needed me more." Yang nuzzled her head close, trying to get her attention.

"It doesn't matter." She pressed a palm to her forehead, eyes burning. "You shouldn't even fucking bother."

It hurt her. Yang's eyes widened, pained as if Weiss had struck her. "Why would you say that?"

Weiss didn't answer. So Yang shook her slightly, trying to jostle her out of whatever state she was in, but Weiss's eyes were staring out at nothing.

"...Weiss?"

She cupped both her hands over her mouth, eyes still wide open. Tears streamed down her face but she didn't make a sound except for a single gasp for breath.

"Because you love her more than me," she finally said, voice hitching, and she turned her head towards Yang's chest and sobbed.

One large hand coiled up the side of her head. Yang sat down on the bed, pulling Weiss onto her lap. All she could do was hold her securely as she cried the way only Weiss did: in eerie, complete silence. She said once it was because her family hated the sound of her crying.

Even now, years later, all she could do was tremble and breathe, shallow and quick.

"Weiss—"

"Don't try to tell me I'm wrong." She snapped. Irritation clawed its way to the surface of her mind and she clung to it, needing something other than this yawning emptiness that threatened to swallow her whole. "Don't you dare try to tell me you love me the most."

Yang gripped her by the chin, forcing her to look into her eyes. "I don't."

Weiss almost shattered in half.

She swore Yang let her squirm intentionally, letting it tear her apart before she clarified. "I don't love one of you more than the other. I love you both the same."

"How?" Weiss struggled to breathe again, flickering rapidly between grief and rage and confusion. "She was there first. She'll _always_ be first, to _both_ of you."

"I don't want you to be upset," Yang said, slowly letting her go only to trace her fingers down the column of Weiss's throat. "But this— conflict you've conjured up, it's only happening in your head. I'm not leaving you, and neither is Blake. There is no Ruby versus Weiss choice happening anytime soon."

"There will be," Weiss said. She was so tense, like a block of ice in Yang's arms. "Because I won't forgive her. Not for this. She was _gone_ , Yang, she _left_ us, she left and I won't let her waltz back in like she didn't break my heart, like she didn't break _yours_. I won't forgive her. I can't forgive her. Please don't ask me to."

Yang kissed the top of her head. She frowned tightly, stroking both hands down Weiss' bare back. "Okay. That's okay." Yang's fingers found a snag in voluminous white hair. She eased through it before resuming, stroking her until she calmed down. "You don't have to."

She expected a fight. Its absence lifted a huge weight off her, and Weiss melted as the stress fled. Closing her eyes, she again tried to keep unwanted emotions from battering down her doors.

No shame. No regrets. She couldn't live if she let regrets creep their way in. They took root and they strangled and they anchored her down, and she needed to keep moving.

She'd die if she stopped moving.

So it started gently, just needing to touch her. And then then when Yang pressed closer, Weiss gripped the back of her blonde head and demanded a kiss. Yang was always more comfortable giving than taking, a problem they both shared. Neither one of them could escape their own heads long enough to sit still... or in Weiss', case she dreaded stillness.

The robe parted, Yang stroking up along Weiss' pale skin. Opening her mouth to the next kiss, she felt desire follow in the wake of those rough fingers, like she was the matchbook and Yang had struck her.

She moaned in relief when Yang's hand slipped between her legs, her arousal already aching enough that she _needed_ to be touched. Shifting on her lap to face her now, she tugged off Yang's flimsy black tank, the one that was so old and well-worn that Weiss was fairly sure she could have ripped it apart with her bare hands.

"Tell me you're mine."

One palm rested firmly on the small of Weiss' back, tugging her close so that they were chest to chest. It kept her from writhing as the other hand pleasured her, wrist rocking in a slow rhythm. "You know I am," Yang mumbled against her lips before drawing back, eyes heavy lidded.

With a sharp jerk of her wrist, Weiss summoned two glyphs. They rocked forward to pin Yang's hands above her head, dragging her across the bed to do so. The spiked tips of the Schnee snowflake jabbed into her flesh, gripping her tighter than any lock, any cuff.

Alarmed at first, every muscle in Yang's defined arms tensed. She tested the restraint, eyes burning like untended coals.

"Say you're mine." Straddling Yang's hips, Weiss reached behind her to stroke a hand along Yang's thigh. "Tell me I own you."

Yang's chest hitched, face settling into a sharp grin. "If you've already settled your mind on it one way or the other, does it even matter what I say?"

"No." She bent forward, pushing white hair out of her face so that she could kiss Yang. "But I want to hear it anyway."

They both knew only Weiss could get away with this. Blake had the patience but not the will, didn't enjoy seeing Yang in tears at being denied. Something about it was a little too raw, something about it was a little too real, too heartbreaking.

There was _so much_ love in Yang.

To keep her from sharing it was almost as bad as Weiss trying to hoard it all for herself.

Almost.

She kissed her sweetly, hearing no complaints from Yang yet.

Weiss needed to touch her without distraction or interruption. Too many times she had lost herself, staring at the lines and curves of Yang's body only to be pinned down and fucked before she got a chance to properly explore her. She wanted to be cogent for this, not swept up in orgasmic haze.

She wanted to kiss the hollow dip where shoulder met chest. Rub her down, warm her up until she was twisting, panting, sweating.

She absolutely didn't want Yang's hands on her.

"Weiss." Yang's voice sounded hoarse. She knew freedom wouldn't come easily, that Weiss would make her earn it.

Still, Yang tried to beg.

"Please, let me touch you."

Weiss pursed her lips to keep from smiling. That never got old, not one part of it. The softness and the pliancy, the willingness to be taken, Yang opening up her mouth without prompting so Weiss could kiss deeper. "Not yet, gorgeous."

It was a process, like building a glyph from hand. Etching it out onto the dirt, point by point, just to prove she could. Just to learn it better. Yang's body temperature rose, her hands gripping air ineffectively as she squirmed under Weiss. Stroke by stroke, she felt Yang open up to her, clench around her fingers as she found that single point of pleasure inside her, teasing her raw.

Weiss brushed her thumb against Yang's clit, once, and she thrashed like a wild beast. Yang turned her head aside just in time, crackling firecracker sparks trailing on the edge of her breath. "Weiss!" she said again with flames licking the last hissed syllable, angry now, desperate. "Weiss, god, I can't."

Risking a burn on her lips, Weiss kissed her again, forcing Yang to plead into her mouth. Rage was a poor mask for fear. Letting go took a kind of bravery in its own, but Weiss knew Yang could give it to her. "You will."

Obstinate, Yang refused to meet her eyes. She blinked away tears as fast as she could, but still some leaked down, sizzling on her cheek, evaporating into steam.

Weiss bent her head down, kissing along Yang's bare chest, down her twitching stomach. Clear arousal clung to Yang's firm thighs, trembling with eagerness and nervous energy. So wet Weiss could taste it in the air. So wet she risked ruining the sheets. Dripping, needing, pulsing, Yang stayed on the verge of coming to the point of obscenity, swearing and cursing and pleading.

All of Yang's life had been an exercise in tamping herself down, restraining herself. Weiss had seen it firsthand, how that uncontrollable fire cast a shadow over everything Yang did. Losing control meant... well, _losing_. It meant hurting people, and Yang's heart couldn't handle that. Easier to tend to her own needs, or service Weiss and Blake.

So Weiss spurred her on, tightening the sharp angles around Yang's wrist until the snowflakes threatened to break skin. Yang shouted, trying to wrench her arms away to no avail. Her hair lit up brighter than the heart of a star, whole body hissing like a pit of vipers, sweat turning into steam.

The heat was enormous. It threatened to burn the world to a crisp. But Weiss remained untouched and unburnt, still painting slow strokes over Yang's clit with her tongue. She angled her hips to the side to reach herself, unable to ignore her own need any longer. When she looked up she saw Yang staring at her with eyes lit up, hunger and anger feeding into the center of the inferno.

She couldn't help but laugh and remove her hand from herself. "Feel how wet you made me?" she asked, slipping her fingers inside Yang instead. Again she bucked, Weiss's hands probably feeling comparatively frigid to her own body heat. "If you're very good, I'll let you finish me off."

"H-how... how can I be good?" Yang said, like she didn't know the answer.

Weiss propped herself up long enough to kiss her again, smiling at how Yang tried to lick her chin clean. "Give it all to me." She pressed a hand between them, firm and unrelenting. "Just trust me."

She did, in the end. In the way that she only could with Weiss. Trembling from head to toe, she came so hard Weiss was certain she might pass out. Her chest stilled, a ragged gasp escaping her once. Weiss' reward was the feeling of Yang's body heat plummeting, fizzling out faster than a candle blown at her bedside table. Hot, pulsing, slick heat coating her palm all the way up to her aching wrist.

Yang's reward she was able to float in peace, outside of her own head for once before remembering she still had a job to do. She slurred Weiss' name, blinking heavily as Weiss finally freed her. Tilting her head up, Weiss let her sip from a glass of water, blessedly cool.

"Don't worry about it," Weiss said with a short laugh, cradling Yang's head to her chest. Yang only gave minimal protest before curling up against her.

Weiss was too tired to come, anyway.

The next morning, Yang woke up first. Tangled together, their hair gained a mind of its own and started making braids in their sleep. Yang eased away from her, kissing her over and over again.

Weiss awoke fully when she smelled coffee. It lured her to the kitchen, where Yang was singing and cooking omelettes, with tofu and eggs and crispy minced garlic and onions.

She chastised Weiss the moment she saw her. "You know what your problem is? You get grumpy and jumpy when you don't eat."

"I eat!" Weiss protested under her breath before Yang spooned a mouthful of piping hot tofu into her mouth. Swallowing, she prepared a cup of coffee for herself and for Yang, already feeling more alive than she had in weeks.

"So what's the game plan for today, gorgeous?" Yang threw the little pet name back at her. It had to be intentional, made her remember last night.

A little shiver rolled down her back. "I actually have something I'd like to do."

"Oh yeah?" Yang said, teeth edging on biting her lower lip.

"No, I... I literally do. That wasn't flirting." Weiss cleared her throat, looking away. "Some of those huntresses that went missing... they turned up a while ago. Dead."

Yang fell quiet, returning to breakfast without another word. Something in the air chilled, not anger but fear.

Overall, though, Weiss was a lot calmer. Most of her neurosis in check, she could sort through the awkward silence to speak again. "I'm going to go pay my respects before I look into their histories."

"They recovered the bodies?" Yang wondered.

It seemed like an odd question until Weiss remembered the times they almost held a funeral for Ruby. "Yes. These ones are unquestionably deceased."

A sobering, distressing thought.

* * *

.

* * *

She found Ruby at the cemetery. Maybe she should have turned around and left, but she was entranced by the way Blake's clothing hung on her shoulders. That sable, fur-lined coat was purchased with a SDC credit card. Long and tailored to fit Blake's body perfectly.

Weiss realized sharply that Ruby did not own a single stitch of clothing suitable for life in the city. That she probably didn't have much money, either. The huntress stood in front of the grave with a handful of roses, slowly bending her knee to set one down. She stayed there until the snow began to fall harder. Hard enough that even Ruby, who always reminded Weiss of winter— the season, not the person— could not take it any longer.

Approaching quietly, with her Aura suppressed, Weiss watched Ruby.

When Ruby rose again, she turned, spotted Weiss... and went white as a sheet, face drawn tight with anxiety.

And it hit her, finally. In all its horrible heart-crushing glory.

 _She's terrified of me._

Weiss laughed, huffing under her breath. She walked past Ruby to stand in front of the grave. Ruby side-stepped, backing off and watching her with those doe-wide eyes.

 _Good_.

"I wonder if any of them had an identifying marker, like you," she said. Two other graves nearby were marked with a splash of red, a single rose for each of them as well. "A tattoo or something."

"I wouldn't know if they did."

Weiss slowly said, "...Of course."

The snow built up around them.

"So what brought you here? If you don't know these people?"

"I didn't say I didn't know them," Ruby mumbled, one hand on the back of her neck. But she refused to meet Weiss' eyes.

Weiss knew that Aura functioned according to some laws of nature, like electricity did. But there was no logical explanation for why rage made it burn hotter, and more forcefully repelled everything around her. She knew that to another huntress she must seem like a bonfire, or a pile of tinder ready to be sparked.

So that was probably why Ruby stood a safe distance away, a foot of space between them at least.

"Your father considered getting a tombstone for you, too," Weiss said, turning back towards the graves. "I called him yesterday to let him know you're alive." She brushed some of the snow off the headstone in front of them.

"Thank you," Ruby said, and Weiss could hear the tears in her voice.

It was a terrible noise. She should have relented at that point, stopped hammering it in and beating Ruby down. But all Weiss felt was a perverse satisfaction. "In any case," Weiss said. "There's still an empty plot of land for you when you do decide to die."

Ruby took a moment to reply. Weiss heard the rustle of fabric, another wet sniff. "That is so like you. Yang didn't want... Doesn't want to believe that I stayed away on purpose."

"Did you?"

When she turned around to look at her, Ruby had her eyes scrunched. To fight back tears, or struggling to remember, Weiss couldn't tell. "I think so? There's this... lock around my heart, and my head. I'd look at the walls and just run scrambling in the other direction."

"And what broke it was..."

Ruby shrugged. "Maybe Blake fucked it out of me."

The tips of Weiss' ears turned red. "I highly doubt that."

For whatever reason that made Ruby grin, lopsided. She rubbed at her eyes again and cleared her throat and shook herself out, like a dog coming in from poor weather. "So um. Where you headed after this?"

She didn't want to tell her. These plans were secure, her research personal, the material sensitive. She couldn't trust Ruby with her heart— why in Remnant would she trust her with anything else?

"Home," she finally said, and it was a bald-faced lie and Ruby could tell it was a lie and Weiss knew that Ruby knew.

But instead of confronting her Ruby just spoke, her voice incredibly small. "Sorry."

Sorry? Sorry for what, though? Did Ruby understand what she had broken? Or was it just habit at this point?

Is this what she wanted after all, then? To have Ruby grovel and beg for forgiveness? She already got a small taste and she wasn't sure how much she enjoyed it, or if she should enjoy it at all. "You can stay with me tonight if you want."

She didn't know why she expected Ruby to sound the same, look the same, walk the same, wear the same clothes. She expected her feet to fall like little foot pads, tap tap tap, the loping wolf gait, but instead there was this...

...ghost.

In the span of an eyeblink Ruby was hugging her. Red blotted her vision, a rush of rose petals streaming around them in a gust of wind.

She didn't expect Ruby to still smell the same.

Weiss almost groaned, clutching onto Ruby tighter and turning her head so that she buried her face into the crook of Ruby's neck. Her palms glided down her back, crushing Ruby in an embrace that threatened to be controlling.

Ruby hesitated, but not for long. She grabbed Weiss by the face, kissing her roughly. Aroused and enraged, Weiss shoved her but not hard enough to make her leave, just pushing her until her back hit the black steel bars of the cemetery gates. They rattled, a layer of ice and snow slumping off the spikes to land on the ground at their feet. They made out like they never did as teenagers, grasping each other all over, and Ruby had to pull away first.

"I love you."

Weiss ricocheted from lust to rage so fast it gave her whiplash.

"Then why did you _leave_?" she demanded, fingers marking deep indents into the black fabric of her coat. She gripped Ruby tightly, hoping she felt it. Hoping it hurt.

"I don't know, okay?" Ruby finally snapped, using Weiss' grip on her to just tug her closer. "I don't remember!"

Weiss slammed her against the gates again, teeth bared. "Stop lying to me!"

"I'm not! I don't know why you don't believe me, but I!" She snarled breathing heavily, face to face. Close. "Don't!" Ruby talking back to her made her feel even better than hearing her cry. That snapping, biting smack talk that had characterized so much of their relationship, hardened and made brittle with time. "Remember! Even if I did remember I wouldn't know anything about _them_ —" she gestured widely at the graves. "They kept us separate so we wouldn't know details about the other cells!"

Weiss' eyes widened.

Gasping sharply, Ruby put one hand over her mouth. The other wrapped around her own waist, her body hunching forward like she was trying to hold something in, something terrible. It made her shake from head to toe, turn pale under her tan.

A stunned silence rang out on the empty graveyard.

"Well." Weiss said at last. "Do you care to clarify?"

"I don't know." Clutching her head with both hands now, Ruby stared at the ground. "I don't know? I don't know why I said that, it just slipped out."

"But what does it mean?"

" _I don't know what it means_!"

Her breath billowed, steaming in the frozen air. Sighing, Weiss pressed to fingers to her temple, fighting back a headache. "So... You haven't gone completely amnesiatic."

"No. No, the things I remember just don't make any sense," Ruby muttered, flexing her grip on her scalp. "But I mean, lot of it is blank. Even though you clearly don't believe me."

"I don't see why I should." But she reached forward, took Ruby's hands from her head and lowered them.

Ruby bit her lip. Sober, eyebrows furrowed, Ruby swore to her. "I don't know what happened, Weiss. If I left on purpose or if someone took me. But I'm going to find out."

* * *

.

* * *

They parted ways after that. Weiss didn't want anyone with her when she went to the docks, settled into the pilot seat of her private airship, and exited the city walls.

Occasionally she glanced at her scroll, looking for new messages in between checking her location, and finishing her new project.

In faint red lines, like threads of yarn on a loom, she had a rough estimation of Ruby's whereabouts for the last three years.

It wasn't completely accurate, she was sure. She'd only just drafted it up in the period of time between discovering Ruby alive and now. But based on what Blake told her and what she gleaned herself, Ruby's old stomping grounds followed a pattern. Slowly, she made contact with chieftains and petty barons, mayors and governors of the border settlements, the places that exist outside the wall.

There were certain areas Ruby made sure to avoid. Known danger zones, hotbeds of Grimm activity... and more than a few old temples, the ones from before Vale's walls were built. Ruby's trails gave them a wide berth, for no discernable reason. Asking the Huntress herself would just lead to more vague half-truths, so Weiss decided she would have to find out the truth herself.

She landed down just a few hours later. Preliminary scans found more signs of excavation.

Same as the temple she'd sent Blake and Yang to investigate. And instead of answers, they found Ruby.

Weiss shook her head.

So Huntresses were going missing, and old tombs were being dug up, and there was a name— a name she did not understand— chevalier noir, bandied about in between paperwork, in whispers and in fragments, and tattoos on body parts found severed at the joint.

Most of the dig sites had one thing in common: a pure white, pulsing crystal left in a socket on the cave wall. Blake and Yang had sent her pictures of more than a few. Any attempts to touch it ended with singed fingers and blown scrolls, malfunctioning Dust bullets, or worse. She instructed them not to tamper with them until she got a closer look herself.

She thought maybe with her unique relationship to Dust and crystals she might have some insight here, but no. It just hummed, and then whined as she lifted her own scroll to take a picture. The screen fizzled out once, and for a moment Weiss thought she'd fried it. Then the screen came to life again, blinking with several new messages.

Weiss let out a long breath, sighing deeply as she stood up. Her scroll beeped insistently for her attention, though the signal was pretty lousy down here. Two texts from Blake and a voicemail from an unknown number. She wasn't ready to talk to Blake yet, or think about the faunus at all, so she played the message on speaker.

The voice was garbled, but unmistakable.

Rigid in shock, Weiss merely let the recording play.

"Nevermore," Ozpin said, "Underground. Foster. Record. Killzone."

On and on he went, and then there was silence, and then again the long string of unassociated words. The message ended.

With trembling fingers, Weiss tried to call back the number, but got nothing but a busy tone. Connecting to the SDC towers was going to be hard as hell out here but she tried anyway, returning to her ship and hooking her scroll to the communications systems.

Nothing.

Finally she called Blake, instinct taking over. She trusted both her partners with her life, but only Blake had a knack for the obscure, for hidden messages and code words. Rattled to her core, Weiss played the message over and over again until the faunus picked up.

"Just where the hell are you?" Blake said in irritation.

"I think Ozpin is alive out there too," Weiss responded. She would have taken satisfaction in how it trumped anything Blake was concerned about, but she was still shaking too much. "Or someone has him, or he has a cache hidden here in some of the temples. I'm sending you a recording. Save a copy, double encrypt it. We can't lose this." She tapped her foot anxiously, hoping the connection wouldn't be lost when she sent the file. "Tell me if it means anything to you."

She could only hear Blake's breathing for a moment, then the recording on the other end. They listened to it together, Weiss pacing the narrow length of her airship until she heard a shout.

Weiss stops in her tracks. "Blake?" On the other end she could just hear a loud clatter, a rush of fabric and limbs. Clutching onto the back of her pilot's chair, Weiss spoke again. "Blake?! What's happening?!

Terror rose like bile as the line clicked and went dead.


	3. Chapter 3

She couldn't remember a time when terror gripped her like this. Not even when—

 _No. No._ Weiss closed her eyes, feeling sick.

 _Don't think about it. Don't think about the time Ruby went missing._

 _I can't lose them again, I can't lose any of them._

"Stupid!" She slammed both fists onto the console of her airship. "Stupid— _idiot_ — _stupid_ girl."

 _They need you and you're not there!_

On the verge of hysterics, she tried calling again as soon as she was within range. It took an hour of flight, an hour of every possible scenario racing through her mind. Nobody picked up. Working on their own, her hands dialed the only other number she could think of, brain screaming in panic until Winter picked up.

"Hello, Weiss."

It all came spilling out as one long, rambling sentence. Left with no other options, she reverted back to a time not too long ago when the best solution was always _Winter, Winter will know what to do._

"— and I don't know, they're probably fine, but I can't get ahold of them and I'm jumping to the worst possible conclusions because— because I've been reading all these reports coming in and _something is happening out there_ , Winter. Something terrible. And it's coming closer and closer to the walls."

"All those dead huntresses and we don't know what's killing them," Winter agreed, and hearing the smooth tone of her voice did wonders for calming Weiss down.

She exhaled hugely, adjusting her grip on the pilot's wheel. All those dead huntresses cattle-branded and ripped apart and left where someone would find them. It could have been Ruby. It _would_ have been her, eventually, if Yang and Blake hadn't found her.

Winter had been helping her for months now, gathering intel and data on Chevalier Noir. Weiss went to her sister before anyone else because of her experience. It was the validation she needed before she started sending Blake and Yang on those missions together.

"...You haven't been sleeping much recently, have you?"

Her scroll was propped up in front of her, a crackling video call showing the stark whiteness of Winter's office. Her sister sat straight-backed in her chair, with her hands folded on top of her desk. "Recently, she says. Like I've never not had trouble with it."

"I'm not trying to discredit what you're feeling, Weiss." Stoic as ever, Winter's mouth twitched down, the faintest stress lines appearing on her face. "You're right to be afraid. But you've been running yourself so ragged that you're falling apart at the first sign of conflict."

That's what everyone had been telling her for months now. "I know." She tried to relax, tried to organize her thoughts.

"I won't be there for another week at least, but I can send a specialist down sooner to assist your case, if needed." Winter leaned forward, voice growing sterner. "Weiss. Breathe."

She breathed. As best as she could, anyway.

"I want reports on your situation every hour on the hour until this is resolved. Can you commit to that?"

"Yes, ma'am." The words left her mouth before she remembered they were equals now. She was an adult, damn it. Cheeks turning pink, she ended the call after a brief farewell.

When she arrived at her home during the dead hours of the morning, nothing looked amiss. The guards at the gate confirmed no strange activity and no signs of entry. Still, she nearly tore the door off its hinges trying to get inside, Myrtenaster already drawn.

She must have looked half-wild rounding the corner of one hallway only to come face-to-face with Blake, who looked exhausted but otherwise no worse for wear.

The faunus blinked at her a few times, unsure where to focus their attention: her face, or the sword pointed at them.

With a sigh of disgust, Blake pressed the back of one palm to Myrtenaster and pushed it aside. "So you decided to show up."

Weiss wanted to be indignant, but she was still shaking. That lingering sense of impending loss, that certainty that she would come home to blood and bodies and— and chevalier noir— whatever that infernal thing might be. Another piece of a grisly puzzle for her to sort through, this dark shadow casting malignancy over her life.

"I thought you were in trouble." Weiss sheathed her sword, relaxing out of a fencing pose. "What happened?"

Blake pushed a hand through pitch black bangs, still irritated with her. "Ruby fainted while I was talking to you." The faunus gestured for Weiss to follow. She did, still trembling faintly as they went to Weiss' bedroom. "If you tried calling again you would know that."

She wanted to insist she did try calling again but it was obvious Blake was looking for a fight. And besides, something else demanded Weiss' opinion.

Pale as the silk sheets she laid on, Ruby lay still. She breathed deeply, so slow that Weiss could not resist the urge to lean closer and double check that she was breathing at all. Yang sat on the edge of the mattress, eyes wet with tears as she stroked Ruby's face.

Weiss felt Blake glaring at her, twin points of heat that threatened to bore holes into her back. "How long has she been like this? Why isn't she in the hospital?"

"She made us promise," Yang said, swallowing a knot in her throat. "Before we got here, she made us promise not to take her anywhere if she got ill like this."

"She doesn't have a fever," Blake added, voice rumbling with concern. "And her pulse is normal. No signs of concussion, either. It could be a... shock thing."

Her jaw tensed up. "That's it? You're just going to let that be the end of it?"

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Yang said.

"I don't know. _Not_ listen to a reckless idiot?" Weiss ignored the way the two of them sharpened their gaze, anger warming up the room degree by degree.

"You've chosen an awfully convenient time to start caring about her," Blake snapped.

"Listen, that recording must have made this happen. Ruby heard it, and somehow..."

Going over to Weiss, Blake grabbed her by the collar, shaking her once. "No, _you_ made this happen!" Blake's teeth bared. "She told me about what happened in the graveyard. You keep pushing her when she's vulnerable! When she needed you! And now this...!"

Weiss looked them up and down. "...Get your hands off of me."

Dead-eyed, Yang glanced between Weiss and Blake with a dawning exhaustion.

"...If you two are going to insist on this, do it somewhere else," she finally said, turning back to Ruby and taking her hand.

Bristling, Weiss slapped Blake's hand away and marched off. Her blood pounded in her head, the whole world awash with crimson.

Blake followed at her heels, spitting venom even as she led them downstairs to the training room. "That's right, Weiss. Just run away! Don't own up to what you've been doing ever since she got here! I mean, why would you ever let yourself be held accountable for all the shitty things you say? When have you _ever_ done that?"

"Running away is your thing, Blake," Weiss said, voice cool. She approached the console at the center of the room, input the commands for tournament mode. A barrier erected itself around the two of them, encircling the room.

Drawing Myrtenaster, she swung it through the air once until the tip pointed at Blake. "Though with recent events, I guess Ruby really could give you a run for your money."

Fuming, Blake stood with both hands clenched at their side, like they didn't even realize where they were until Weiss lunged.

Blake had Gambol out in an instant, suddenly understanding. Steel rang against steel in a parry, and after a moment to sober up they flashed a sharp smile at Weiss.

"Oh. Okay. So that's how it's gonna be."

"You know it," Weiss said, and when Blake vanished she was ready.

Weiss turned around the moment Blake reappeared behind her. Striking, and spinning to strike again, relentlessly swinging over and over with both halves of Gambol Shroud. Weiss could only block with glyph and blade, moving backwards and trying to circle around. She tried not to let Blake lead her into a corner but there was no escape, not until she twisted her free hand into a glyph and sent the faunus head over heels, slipping on a patch of bare ice.

Zipping to the other side of the room to get some distance, Weiss breathed heavily with exertion. "Nobody makes Ruby do something she doesn't want to do," Weiss said, extending her arm at the elbow to sharply flick aside the ice hardening over her blade. "You know the truth. You knew it the second you found her within walking distance of the wall!"

"Of course I know she did it on purpose!" Blake struggled for purchase on hands and knees. "I'm not an idiot! But I'm not going to torture her over it— not when she already forgave me for doing the same."

"We were kids. That was different!"

"It's _not_!" Blake hurled Gambol across the room, hilt lashed to the ribbons wrapped around both arms. Without thinking, Weiss deflected it with a wild swing. The second she made contact, the black blade exploded in a reaction of raw Dust.

Coughing, Weiss only had enough time to curse herself before Blake leaped, heel cracking into her cheek. Her head snapped to the side and she went down.

"You think you're the only one hurting here?" Blake demanded, chest heaving. "God, I knew you would do this. I knew it! And Ruby was so terrified to come home because she knew too! I can't believe I thought for once you wouldn't be— wouldn't be _you_!"

Wordless with fury, Weiss threw Blake back again with another series of glyphs. They fought like a pair of wildcats, not needing to glance up at the beeping console to know they were almost at their Aura limit. Tournament mode erred on the side of caution but here there was nothing really holding them back. Certainly not the flashing red lights, the warnings for them to stop because they risked seriously injuring one another.

Somewhere along the line Blake lost hold of the blade end of Gambol Shroud. In a normal fight that would be nearly unthinkable, but here Blake's fist broke free and scored a hit right against Weiss' ribs. She wheezed, scrabbling and clawing and kicking until she knocked the sheath aside and disarmed Blake.

With Blake splayed out between her knees, Weiss took a deep breath and bore down with Myrtenaster. Her arms shook with exertion as she pressed the tip to Blake's throat, steel catching against Aura so fiercely sparks flew.

"I'm not like you!" She leaned down, teeth grit as Blake tried to find a way to break the lock they were in. "I'm not like Yang! I don't forgive people who hurt me!" Blake's Aura rippled, on the verge of shattering. Just before she pierced their throat, Weiss hurled her sword to the side, letting it clatter on the floor. She clutched her head in both hands, shouting again. "I don't know how!"

Blake's palm shot up, the heel of their hand catching Weiss square in the nose. That last strike was all they needed to break her Aura into tatters. It felt like release, every part of her soul wriggling and shattering into a million pieces until she could feel pain, _real_ pain, the crunch of cartilage and hot blood spurting onto the white floors.

The console blared, letting them know the match was over. But Blake's Aura still blazed with fury, every muscle poised to act. Struck with sudden nerves, Weiss panicked. Her mind went blank, not sure of anything except that this was getting too dangerous.

The only thing that came to mind was her safe word and she used it in a terrified gasp. " _Anthos_!" she said, hating how afraid she sounded, how quick she was to fall back on that failsafe that always meant they would stop, full-stop, stop everything they were doing no matter what it was, for the love of god, just make it STOP.

With one fist on her jacket and the other cocked back to punch her again, Blake froze. Golden eyes were blown wider than open windows, adrenaline turning them to black pits. Then slowly, inch by inch, Blake relaxed and flopped backwards onto the floor.

Weiss fell too, feeling liquid like the blood on her face as she slithered down to lie on top of Blake. When she dared to look at their face again, the faunus resolutely stared at the roof, not willing or able to talk about this right now.

It had always been easier to talk without words when dealing with Blake.

In the end it was Blake who broke the silence. "...You going to use your safe word to end fights, now?" They sounded amused more than anything, reaching up to wipe the sweat from their brow.

"Shut it." Weiss was too tired to have any bite in her voice, either. She wrapped her arms and legs around the faunus, clinging to their solid body as hard as she could. "We can call this a draw."

That got Blake's attention. Head lifting a bit, Blake's brows tensed together. "We absolutely will not. I won."

"You won the fight, but not the argument."

Blake let their head flop back on the floor again. "You are such an asshole."

"I know." Her white sleeves soaked up most of the blood. Now that she could lie still and recover, she slowly felt her Aura stitching itself together again, healing her. It was reassuring, filled her with a warm glow as her blood hummed under the skin. "...I'm sorry."

And she really meant it.

"You know Ruby's sorry too, right?"

Weiss shook her head. "She... she doesn't have anything to be sorry for."

Blake reached up to hug her, squeezing her unexpectedly tight. It felt good, pressing out any remaining tension between them. But when Blake didn't let her go, she started itching under her skin, riddled with tension of a different kind. With Blake pressed so tightly between her thighs, nose flooded with copper blood and sweat and the oil they use in their hair... Suddenly she wanted nothing more to reach between them, slip free just enough clothing to fuck as roughly as they had fought.

Blake's chest rose in a sharp laugh, gold eyes clearly interested, yet darkly amused. "Distracted?" they asked, running a hand through her hair.

Weiss rolled her shoulders in a shrug. There wasn't any use in denying it when Blake could almost certainly smell arousal clinging to every inch of her skin. Propped up on two elbows, Blake rose up enough to kiss Weiss gently on the lips. One palm grasped her thigh, damp and warm. Sliding the other hand up her skirt, the faunus dug two fingers under the crotch of her panties.

The first stroke made her bite her lip. Her eyes closed, Weiss pushed her hips in closer, needing more. Especially after denying herself with Yang last night. But after another kiss, Blake retreated.

"Maybe I'd rather let you suffer for me, a bit." Blake smiled, tongue licking all traces of her off their fingers. Weiss huffed, sitting back with a pout, and Blake patted her cheek fondly. Getting to both feet, Blake helped Weiss stand with another kiss.

The showers connected to the training room brought welcome relief. The initial blast of cold water calmed her down enough that she could just close her eyes and relax as Blake lathered her up, cleaning the blood from her face and hair before running a comb through the silvery white length.

She returned the favor once they could sit down on the benches, chest pressed to Blake's back as she blow dried the dark tresses and then braided them tightly. Blake was texting on their scroll, sending messages back and forth to Yang.

"Ruby seems fine," Blake said while Weiss finished, wrapping up the end of the braid with one of Blake's silk ribbons.

Weiss texted Yang herself just to make sure. And also...

 _I'm sorry,_ Weiss said.

Yang, perfect Yang, didn't even hesitate. _It's understandable. We're all a little wound up right now. You two good?_

 _We're good. How's Ruby?_

 _Still asleep, but less pale. Breathing normally._

 _Good._

They took shifts watching over her, since having all four of them in the same room quickly got suffocating. Weiss and Blake went over the recording together, trying to find a source. It was Ozpin's voice for sure, but the words didn't make any sense.

Weiss sent another copy to Winter, hoping Atlas might be able to help further. Winter accepted it, promising again that she could be in Vale within the week if Weiss still needed her. Weiss hesitated, but accepted.

"Has to be some kind of cipher," Blake said.

Thinking of Ruby's reaction, Weiss went another path. Something about it reminded her of the security bots that guarded her as a child, the instant kill-switches. Seeing the newest model stand behind Winter cemented the idea. "Or an activation phrase?"

Disquieted, Blake couldn't agree or disagree yet. Not until they had more information.

That night, when it was Weiss's turn to watch Ruby, she only hesitated for a heartbeat before crawling into bed with her. She held her, burying her face into the crook of her neck again, inhaling deeply. That Ruby Rose smell.

At one point she fell asleep, and when she awoke up silver eyes greeted her, glowing like a predator in the night.

"You're here," Ruby said, voice rough with sleep, confused. She kept both hands to her chest. Though they seemed to shine like the moon itself, her silver eyes remained out of focus. More than drowsy, she seemed almost drugged.

Weiss smiled, a little rueful. Then she leaned in, slowly, kissing Ruby's lips. They were so soft, exactly like she remembered. One hand dared up, caressing Weiss' face. She closed her eyes, enjoying the gentle touch.

"Is this a dream?" Ruby murmured against her lips.

Stroking her short hair back again, Weiss studied her. The scar on her lip was new, so deep that it looked painful. It cut right to the teeth, bringing to mind lurid mental images of white bone and red blood. "Did you dream about me often?" she asked, thumb rolling over that scar.

Ruby's face tightened, focus going somewhere else. She didn't answer the question, didn't have to, and the reality of it hit Weiss like a shot to the gut. Guilt radiated off Ruby like a physical thing, like a scent. She was wracked with it, and again Weiss had to confront how terribly unfair she'd been to her.

Even if it Ruby left on purpose...

Weiss curled a hand behind Ruby's head, pulling her forehead to rest against her chest. Ruby sighed, kissing the hollow of her throat.

No, she _definitely_ left on purpose. Nothing would convince Weiss otherwise, even after all of this. But Ruby would never have left without any intent to return. She _wanted_ to come home, Weiss knew. She merely... Couldn't.

"I was so worried about you," Weiss said. "You scared me."

"M'sorry," Ruby mumbled. "Sorry. I'm sorry..."

And then she pulled back with a gasp, coherence shining bright in her eyes. Holding a hand to Weiss' mouth, she spoke before she lost her train of thought.

" _I remember something_."

* * *

.

* * *

Getting Yang on an airship was a harder task than you might think. Ever since a bumpy ride several years ago ended with the engines on fire, she'd been skittish about being "trapped inside a flying tin can for six hours."

"Don't worry," Ruby soothed her. They sat together on the cushy couches in Weiss' private airship. Yang rested mostly on her lap, encircled by Ruby's legs. The youngest huntress rubbed up and down Yang's spine as the ship took off. "It'll be over before you know it."

It worked, sort of. Though she didn't pace like a restless tiger as she usually did on these flights, Yang continued to gripe. "There's a reason Blake and I usually hoof it."

"It'll be faster this way." Blake spoke up, setting aside the faunus-friendly headsets they'd been wearing. "We can go, verify Ruby's report, and then come straight home."

Maybe Yang should have stayed home. Maybe most of them should have. But Ruby wanted to go in person, Weiss was the best pilot, and Blake and Yang didn't want to be left behind again.

So they were a team, for the first time in years. Out of necessity, perhaps. It wasn't something orchestrated or perhaps even desired, but at the same time... it felt very right.

Unscrewing a bottle of nail polish, so red it was almost black, Blake settled down and tried to relax. Blake offered to do Yang's as well, to help pass the time, but she refused. Ruby however gladly accepted, and Yang produced a deck of cards from her duffel bag.

"Honestly. It's like babysitting a bunch of kids."

"You're the one who won't install a flatscreen in here," Yang shot back, as though that didn't prove Weiss' point. "Besides, you're never having kids, so you might as well have us. Right?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. Her palm instinctively rose up to press over her bicep, flexing it slightly to reassure herself the implant was still there. Maybe one day she'd change her mind, but for now she was certain the Schnee line would not be continued through her body. "Sure."

Careful not to get burgundy smudges all over the map, Blake and Ruby unrolled it over the table in the center of the lounge area. They gathered all of their disparate knowledge to point out different drop sites, some already explored but many that flew completely under Blake's radar.

Drop sites... That's what Ruby called them, anyway.

"Dare I ask what you were dropping off? Or what that particular message from Ozpin meant?"

The tight, strained look on Ruby's face made Weiss immediately regret asking. So she turned back around and focused on flying for the next few hours. The droning hum of Dust-reactor engines and the endless wilds beneath them merged into one, and she let herself slip into that easy comfort. When Winter gave her the first lesson she'd been terrified, but flying provided a kind of freedom that Weiss had been sure only existed in fairy tales.

Blake stayed next to her for the most part, knees curled to chest. Dozing occasionally, Blake ignored the _cat nap!_ jokes and made sure Weiss knew she could take a break whenever she needed.

The sky started turning dusky twilight, swathes of purple melding into gold and blood red. When it was pitch black, the forested landscape illuminated only by her front lights, Weiss finally obeyed her aching legs and got up to stretch. The plane could be safely left on autopilot for that long, but she tapped Blake on the shoulder to give them a head's up anyway.

Aura suppressed out of habit so as not to disturb the others, Weiss paced the length of her private ship a few times. Yang and Ruby were coiled up together on the couch with their foreheads touching, deep in sleep. It brought a smile to her face.

There was nothing she wanted more than answers. But for now she could be content, knowing that Ruby was finally home safe and whole, in body if not in memory. After scrubbing her face in the bathroom, Weiss passed them again and she stroked a hand over Ruby's shoulder, since she was closest to the edge.

Thinking they might need a blanket, she dipped into a little enclave right next to the cockpit. It had a week's supply of emergency rations and anything else they might need if stranded out in the wild. The blanket still smelled like a closet, but should be warm enough.

Weiss turned back, stepping out of the enclave and heading back to the lounge.

"O-oh god. Fuck."

She froze, alert as a rabbit in the scopes. In the moment it took her eyes to adjust to the dark, she couldn't trust what she saw, but she knew what she heard. First the creak of cushions. Then the ragged panting, barely muffled. Ruby turned around so that her back was pressed to Yang's chest. One large hand trailed down the front of her pants, the other stroking over her chest. Ruby had both arms up, reaching behind her to loop around Yang's neck and hold her closer.

Well, that escalated quickly.

Weiss' ears burned. She backed off, returning to the little enclave with the blanket clutched to her chest and her heart hammering in her head. Though she closed her eyes, the image was burned into her mind.

"That's it, _meimei_."

How could they still _call_ each other that? Especially given what they all knew about Ruby's parents. Weiss wanted to be repulsed, but... well, maybe some habits died hard. And she couldn't deny that it sent a thrill through her too, seeing them together. But should Weiss say something? Alert them to the fact that they had an audience?

...Join in?

This proved another new boundary they had to reestablish. Frozen between irritation and curiosity, Weiss couldn't make a decision until one was made for her.

An iron grip wrapped around her wrist. Shushing her, Blake slowly but forcefully pulled Weiss back to the cockpit. Weiss struggled for words to explain herself, red in the face as Blake drew the curtain shut.

The lounge and cockpit were effectively separated, but she could still hear Yang and Ruby. If her human ears could, then Blake's definitely could. What was the faunus thinking? Weiss stewed ceaselessly over it, keeping her eyes lowered until Blake tilted her face up with a finger coiled under her chin.

Blood still thrumming uncomfortably, she complied. Blake kept one arm braced over Weiss' head, the other still on her wrist. Their breathing remained steady and even, but the long, catlike stretch of their pupils lets Weiss know Blake wasn't as unaffected by this as they'd like to be.

But they didn't make a move, and when Weiss slowly rolled her hips forward to test the faunus, Blake stopped her. They only breathed, lips close enough to kiss but never broaching that distance. With that scant space between them, Weiss was all too aware of all the points where they touched, and Blake's skin was so hot she started to sweat.

When she heard Ruby come it felt like someone had thrust her fingers into an electric socket. It was exhilarating. Every hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and Blake's trembling body twitched a centimeter closer.

"I'll fly." Every word sounded a little thick, like Blake was treading water to avoid drowning in it. The faunus brushed the back of one hand over Weiss' cheek, the motion managing to be tender and tense in the same breath. "You ought to get some rest."

Weiss nodded, frazzled. So wound up she couldn't possibly sleep, she curled up in the co-pilot's seat with the blanket wrapped around herself. But she underestimated how tired she really was. The stress of the past few days caught up to her and she passed out, trusting Blake with the airship.

When they landed the next morning, Ruby walked with a notable bounce in her step. Weiss could only roll her eyes let their fearless leader take point. Blake and Yang hung back to secure the airship before following close at her heels, walking hand in hand.

"You weren't discreet last night," Blake murmured to Yang.

"Wasn't trying to be."

"This isn't a hotel."

"Aw." Yang's voice dipped teasingly. "Am I getting scolded?"

This particular site wasn't an old temple, but a crumbling gray fort surrounded by miles of fence. The way Ruby normally entered was hard to access from their landing area, so Ruby brought along a giant set of fence clippers. Just before she went at the fence she twisted around, snicker-clicking them ominously while she kept a blank expression.

"Last chance to turn back," Ruby said, eyebrows dancing.

"Just get on with it," Weiss answered.

Ruby shrugged and snipped through the fencing, letting the rest of the team follow her.


	4. Chapter 4

Inside the crumbling gray walls, Weiss had flashbacks to missile bunkers, places deep within hidden vaults containing classified Atlesian military tech. Even with Winter at her side she wasn't granted access to much of it, a fact that Whitley still enjoyed rubbing in her face after he followed in his eldest sister's footsteps.

"So do we know what this place is, or...?" Yang rolled her shoulders uncomfortably, inching closer to Blake.

Ruby moved with a surety that Weiss wished she shared. She had a long stride, all three of them did, and Weiss resented working double time to keep pace. Halfway through a long-deserted tunnel, Ruby reached out impatiently to Weiss, fingers twitching inward.

"Your scroll. Please."

Weiss handed it over. After typing in a number, Ruby waited.

And then the wall next to them lit up with silver etchings, like the runes on old temples- except- No. Not runes. Circuitry, pulsing with a warm, unfamiliar light.

The wall slid open and Ruby stepped inside the lab.

Perhaps it had another name, but that was the only way Weiss could describe it. There were walls of machinery and medical equipment, all of it alien to her. Blake and Yang split up, prowling the perimeter until they were satisfied nothing Grimm lurked within.

"Ruby?"

Ruby didn't answer her. She was fidgeting, pacing in front of what looked to be a cluster of monitors, all inactive. Restless, she searched for the power source until she could start turning on equipment, moving in strange patterns. Once more she pulled out Weiss' scroll, connecting it remotely to the screens. She seemed to be searching for some kind of backdoor, a way to activate something that she perhaps should not have access to.

"Ruby, can you use someone else's scroll? I'm expecting a call from Winter." Ruby stood stock-still, her back to Weiss. Suddenly uncomfortable, Weiss added, "...I'm sorry."

"It has to be yours," Ruby answered.

"Because...?"

"Because yours activated the other one. The. The cache. A drop site. There were passwords. Things?" Ruby muttered under her breath, too low for Weiss to hear. Then she spoke again, "It was on your scroll and not theirs. It was on yours. It was on yours because I gave it to you. I gave it to you. I gave it to you? I gave it to you. I gave it to you."

Like some unseen circuit had snapped, Ruby started repeating herself. Alarmed, Weiss put a hand on her shoulder and slowly turned her away from the cluster of buzzing monitors. Ruby refused to meet her eyes, the heel of her palm digging into her forehead as though she fought a headache.

"Are you okay?"

"I gave it to you," Ruby said, looking at her helplessly. "No, no, I didn't. I _couldn't_."

A long stretch of silence. Weiss could see the other two watching them with questioning eyes, worried and alarmed as she was. Ruby stepped closer, rubbing her palms on Weiss' arms before cupping Weiss' face. "I gave it to you," she said, but even more distressed this time.

"You didn't give me anything." Weiss wasn't sure if she should correct Ruby when she was in this state. But the more Ruby said that, the more upset she became. "Do you mean that strange signal on my scroll? The message from Ozpin?"

Ruby nodded fast. "You found it without me telling you, Weiss. You all found it, I knew you would find it. But I didn't know you would find it, I _couldn't_ know, if I knew- I couldn't know for sure, because then I couldn't do it."

"...You left that message for me? Why?"

Ruby shook her head, but this time she seemed less distressed. "I couldn't do it on purpose or I'd break," she said in a whisper, gripping Weiss by the back of the neck. Then she relaxed. Then she tightened her grip, over and over, until Weiss felt like she was being kneaded by an anxious cat. "I couldn't do it for all of you. But you _would_ find it, wouldn't you? You didn't stop looking, Weiss. I knew you wouldn't, I knew you'd find me. I knew it would be you. It had to be you."

Ruby yanked her close, arms tucked underneath Weiss'. She squeezed her so close that Weiss could feel her tremble, hear her teeth chattering with a sudden chill. "I knew it would be you," she said, voice fierce. "It had to be you, Weiss. You wouldn't stop. You didn't stop until you found me. I knew you would know I knew you would know." She started shaking harder, and Weiss' shoulder grew damp with her tears. "Oh g-god."

Looking sharply at Blake and Yang, she nodded for them to come closer. Weiss pried the scroll from Ruby's grasp, giving it over to Blake as she led her girlfriend outside. "Come on. I think you've been in here long enough."

Sitting outside cleared Ruby's head. But then restlessness overtook her again, and she began to patrol the area.

"Negative emotions will draw Grimm," she said, stone-faced. She pulled her hood up, wrapping a scarf around her mouth until all Weiss could see were those two gleaming silver eyes. "Walk with me? Just to make sure no one is sneaking up on us."

"This place has been clean for years," Weiss said.

Ruby took her hand. "Walk with me anyway?"

So she did.

They spent a week there, living off the rations on the plane. Ruby didn't return to the underground bunker. None of them liked leaving Ruby alone, so Weiss would occasionally swap off with Yang to explore the ruins, letting the sisters have their alone time.

She went down one day to find Blake staring up at one of the monitors, yellow eyes darting across the screen. They'd found dozens of files- most heavily encrypted, but some of them were legible, and Blake spent most of their time poring over the documents.

"Hey, love," Weiss said. The pet name alone got most of Blake's attention. Those terms were rarely exchanged between the two of them. Moving closer, she took Blake's arm and put it over her shoulders so that she could cuddle closer to the faunus. "Find anything?"

"Nothing that makes me feel good." Blake stroked her arm. "I'm sure you can imagine."

"Anything on who did this to Ruby? Or where the other huntresses are?"

Blake shook their head... then hesitated.

"What," Weiss said, flatly demanding more.

"Just... more evidence pointing to the fact that you were right."

"I'm always right. Be more specific." Blake took the time to kiss her again, a lingering one on the lips. That prolonged silence worried her more than she could say. Even if Blake was the stoic, strong type even on the best of days, the faunus knew better than to leave her hanging like this. "What, Blake? What did you find?"

Blake stroked her face.

"Ruby did this to herself."

Time stood still. Weiss was pretty sure she could hear a pin drop in that bunker, staring up into gold eyes with fear and doubt.

"You don't know that."

Blake's lips thinned, brows tensing together. "I'm sorry, Weiss."

"No." Now she was the one in denial. She removed herself from Blake's side, pulling out her scroll to call Winter. "No. No, that can't be right. Winter is almost here with her specialist protegee, they'll get into those inaccessible files and they're going to prove me wrong."

She tried to dial Winter, but her hands were shaking. She gave up after the third try, staring at the open doorway, resolutely looking away from Blake and the monitors.

She wanted to cry.

"How..." Weiss cleared her throat, covering her mouth with one hand. "How certain are you?"

"You can come look at the files yourself, if you like."

The very idea made her want to vomit. "No. Should we tell Yang?"

"I don't know how to break it to her." That warm, comforting presence loomed behind her, the perfect shadow. Blake touched her shoulders, easing them down from where she'd defensively hunched them up. "You and I had an inkling. But Yang... this is going to break her heart."

"It's breaking mine," Weiss whispered.

That night, Weiss forced herself to read what she could. A lot of it was boring and dry. Actually, _all_ of it was boring and dry. It was only on her third read-through that she began to piece it together, that those data entries were people, that the numbers referenced adrenaline levels, dopamine, other chemicals she didn't know and didn't care to know.

When she'd gone over the materials one last time, Weiss had a clearer picture of what had happened all those years ago.

Ruby wasn't abducted.

She volunteered.

* * *

.

* * *

When they finally told Yang, she went as white as the snow around them. Bloodless, she stared at the toes of her boots.

"It looks like they worked with their own partner system," Blake said. "But something went wrong. Ozpin knew her phrase codes, the words that would release her from the temporary amnesia."

"Why would..." Yang's voice cracked. She tried again after clearing her throat. "Amnesia?"

"For whatever duration she needed to, she'd forget everything except the mission. Literally." The words sounded like they came from a million miles away. Weiss squeezed Blake's hand. "So even if she was tortured... Or forced to tell the truth by a semblance, she wouldn't be able to... I mean, you understand where I'm going with this."

"So Ozpin kicked it and Ruby just got fucked over? And was left in memory limbo until we found her?"

Blake and Weiss looked at each other.

"...Pretty much," Blake said. "She knew that might be a risk."

"A risk," Yang echoed, still hoarse. "And Chevalier Noir?"

"It's her," Weiss said. "It's Ruby. She started it, she brought the other huntresses in. She's the black knight."

It was Ruby.

It was always Ruby.

* * *

.

* * *

Winter arrived not only with her protegee, Ciel, but with a whole squadron of Atlas officials.

"If you'd brought any more people," Weiss said, "This could be seen as an invasion by a foreign military."

"It still could be." Winter blessed her with one of those rare, charming smiles. "Keep it hush for now, until we can establish a base here."

She promised she would.

Ruby mostly stayed out of their way. Immediately after learning the truth ( _really_ learning, not just guessing, not hoping against hope that Blake and Weiss were wrong and Ruby didn't gamble their life together for some stupid code name and a mission she didn't even remember) Yang stayed far, far away from their camp. Occasionally they heard a shout of rage in the distance, snow toppling alongside a fallen tree.

When she came back at night, she slept in the bunker, not in the plane with the other three.

Ruby didn't say anything.

"Did you remember any of this?" Weiss asked her one night, stroking a hand over the back of her skull. Blake was napping in the pilot's seat and they were on an air mattress on the floor.

"No," Ruby said. She mostly communicated in monosyllables now.

"I suppose even if you did, you wouldn't be able to tell me."

"Mmm."

So how much Ruby knew- and how much she was able to share- would remain a mystery until they cracked more of the code. Winter kept her mouth shut, but she didn't raise an eyebrow at the idea of reverse conditioning a human being. Altas specialists were involved in all sorts of shady practices, Weiss knew. But it was still surreal to occasionally be given a glimpse of all that was withheld from her.

For now she didn't know if it was at even possible to reverse the conditioning on Ruby, since Ozpin was gone.

A rustle of curtain made Weiss glance up. Blake moved towards them with heavy feet, dragging a pillow and blanket along. Dumping it next to Ruby, the faunus joined them on the air mattress, snuggling their face against the center of Ruby's back. "If you two are going to chitchat all night," the faunus said, "Then at least have the decency to fill me in."

"I'm just trying to probe Ruby for more information." Objectively Weiss knew this was crazy. A tiny voice inside her screamed that she should be taking this more seriously, that Ruby didn't deserve forgiveness, or maybe it was a lie after all and this was a mistake, that Ruby never left her- "Trying to see why she left."

"Considering who her father is, are we even surprised? Vanishing runs in the blood."

Ruby spoke quietly, the first full sentence she'd spoken in days. "...Taiyang is my father."

Ah.

Again with that.

If she wanted to stay with Yang, Weiss would think that she'd scramble at the revelation that they weren't full blooded, or even half-blooded, siblings. But whenever pressed, Ruby would say that the two of them didn't know the truth when they started this. It was wrong then, and it was wrong now, and Ruby didn't want to pretend otherwise.

Hide it, yes. There were people who would never understand.

Stop it? No. Not in a million years. They were too far gone.

And Ruby always did, and took, whatever she wanted.

And when Yang approached them the next morning, she stroked the top of Ruby's head before going to the lavatory onboard.

Two days later, and they were on their way home again. Winter said she would take it from here on out.

For perhaps the first time in her life, Weiss gladly relinquished responsibility to someone else.

* * *

.

* * *

Three months provided enough time to establish a fragile ecosystem. The edges sandpapered away, bit by bit, until Weiss felt comfortable around Ruby again. Not like before, of course. Nothing they'd ever have would be close to that easy partner intimacy.

Spots of her memory were gone without a trace, and the three of them all had to learn how to navigate around it. It was like dating an entirely new person, some days.

But at the same time-

Stepping into her room, Weiss saw a shadow standing by the window. Nothing but a force of pure darkness, eyes glinting like a Grimm. Weiss nearly dropped everything in her arms, a noise of fear escaping her before Ruby stepped into the moonlight.

Ruby smiled. "Sorry. Did I scare you?"

"You did." After picking up what she'd dropped, Weiss collected herself enough to approach her girlfriend, greeting her with a kiss. Most nights they slept separately, and lately Blake and Yang had been bunking together. So Weiss often found herself alone, but never lonely. "Wasn't expecting anyone in here."

They were always close by if she needed them.

Weiss had an open suitcase on her bed. She was mostly packed, but still not sure if she should bring anything else. Every so often Ruby would remember some key phrase unlocking a memory and a location. Weiss would accompany her, scroll in hand, to receive the messages from Ozpin. Every time, they were different. Every time, Ruby blanked out and awoke with some new scrap of her old life returned.

It took a big chunk of time out of her already packed schedules. But Weiss enjoyed the little adventures, as troubling as they could be. And the other two were always relieve that Ruby never went alone.

None of them said it, but they were all terrified that one day she'd vanish again. This time, for good.

"I was looking at... That." Waving behind her, Ruby pointed out the view of the mountain range. A natural defense against Grimm invasions, Vale kept its back to the cliffs and its sides to the ocean. The walls pointed outward at endless wild, the seething mass of chaos and hatred that howled at their doors. "And I spaced out for like an hour."

"Hmm. Something about it triggering you?"

She rubbed the back of her neck. "No. I actually like it." A bashful smile crept on her face. "I like it a lot."

Weiss slid one hand on the small of Ruby's back, moving her to the window so they could enjoy the view together. Ruby rested her head on Weiss' shoulder, keeping an arm around her waist.

"There's a king sleeping in those mountains," Ruby murmured after a long time.

It took her a moment not to take it literally. "That's a fairy tale, right?"

Ruby squinted, frowning. "I think."

The way she said it sounded like there was more to it than that. She inhaled, about to start. Then she stopped, body growing tense. The words filled her up sometimes, so many, boiling over until Ruby could not hope to sort through them all. This felt like one of those times, and Ruby ground the heel of her palm against her forehead.

It was hard to be gentle when all she wanted to be was angry. But Weiss always made exceptions for Ruby. Always had. Always would. "Tell me about the fairytale," she prompted, taking Ruby's hand away from her head. She linked their fingers together.

"There's an evil king asleep in the mountain," Ruby said, with great difficulty. "And the Black Knight has to fight him."

Startled, Weiss looked to her. It wasn't the first time she'd heard the fairytale, but it'd been a long time since she'd given it any thought. Hearing it again, now, gave it a more chilling context. "Go on."

The words were stuck to the roof of her mouth. Trying to spit them out, Ruby said, "The Black Knight. She lost everything." Then her face turned red, with shame, and anger. "No, I didn't. I didn't lose anything, I threw it away, I- how could I ever even _think_ \- how fucking _full_ of myself to name myself that-"

"The fairytale, Ruby. You're not talking about yourself." Her thumb rolled slow circles over the back of Ruby's palm. "Finish the story."

"She lost everything in an attack," Ruby said. "And she stood guard against... the. King. Against the king in the mountain. The king in the mountain. The sleeping king in the mountain. The evil king in the mountain."

Ruby looked outside again, focused on the jagged outline of snowy peaks against the sky. Whenever she started repeating herself, Weiss now knew, it was because she'd hit another part of herself, hidden by the conditioning. Something inside her was holding her back... or perhaps there was a wall there, and Ruby kept slamming headfirst into it.

"It's not a king," she whispered.

"Ruby?"

"Do you remember the attack during the Vytal festival?" she said suddenly. "Do you remember Cinder? And the... Grimm?" The invasion during their first year. Of course, how could she forget? "There was this noise the whole time, this terrible growling, like the earth was going to split in half. It was him... _them_. The ones we never caught. It hurt me so much to just sit there and watch from the evacuation ships, even after the Atlesian bots cleared it all out... I wanted to never be that helpless again."

With a heavy sigh, Ruby leaned against Weiss.

"I wish I could remember more."

"You're trying. That's all I can ask for." Weiss kissed her cheek. "When Blake and Yang found you, it looked like some of the conditioning was already beginning to deteriorate. You've been fighting this whole time, Ruby. Even if you couldn't remember how... or why."

Ruby didn't have anything to say to that.

"Can I sleep here tonight?" she asked.

"Of course," Weiss said.

It was always hard to sleep, even with Ruby there holding her. She still smelled the same, so wonderful and soothing. Floral, with the hint of bitterness, like the best perfumes. Weiss breathed in deep, kissing the hollow of her neck.

And when her breathing went even, she heard Ruby speak to her.

" _In the heart of the mountain rests the sleeping king. The grimmest, darkest, wicked winged thing_."

* * *

.

* * *

Blake and Yang walked them to where Weiss kept her planes. Once more the two were staying behind, but that didn't stop Yang from eyeing the aircraft with a queasy expression. "I'm going to miss you so much," she said, before shuddering. "But unless you really, really need me to go with..."

"Come here, you big baby." Ruby yanked her down, kissing her hard on the lips. With both palms on the small of her back, Yang responded just as aggressively, pinning her up against the hull of the ship.

Watching with a quirked eyebrow, Weiss crossed her arms and smirked until she felt another hand slowly creeping around her waist. Standing up straighter, Weiss slapped them sharply on the back of their palm.

Flinching back, Blake waved it rapidly as though she'd actually hurt them. "Hey," they said, with absolutely no reprimand in their voice.

"No touching." Weiss primly turned her back on them. She tossed her head, huffing loudly. "You've been teasing me for months. So now you don't get to touch me at all."

A few scant feet away, Ruby and Yang were still deep in a farewell kiss that was, perhaps, just a bit too enthusiastic. On one hand, it sharply reminded Weiss that she and Ruby hadn't gone any further than kissing. There were times when they got close, half naked and breathing heavily. But Weiss would always retreat.

On the other hand, it was a welcome change of pace for Blake and Weiss to no longer have to keep up with Yang's appetite on their own.

Bringing her back to the present, Blake was leaning down to murmur in her ear. "That's cutting off your nose to spite your face."

Weiss responding by pulling on their tie, leading them into a brief, sharp kiss. "Then you'd better fuck me the next time you get me alone."

Letting go, Weiss dragged Ruby away from Yang after giving her favorite blonde a farewell kiss. "Goodbye guys!" Ruby said cheerfully, waving before Weiss shut the doors.

The companionable silence was one of the best parts of all her relationships. She needed company more than she wanted to admit, but words often failed her, or exhausted her. With Ruby sitting in the co-pilot seat and the whole of Remnant underneath them, Weiss felt, for the first time in years, something close to peace of mind.

Hours out, Ruby decided to take advantage of their solitude.

"Hey, there's something I've been meaning to ask."

Weiss nodded to let Ruby know she was listening.

"Before I... left." Ruby tucked her feet underneath her, making herself smaller without realizing it. It looked defensive, ready to tuck into a ball and cover her head if warranted. "Blake and I were talking about having a baby."

Though her expression didn't betray anything, Weiss started wiping her palms on her lap, suddenly a lot sweatier. "You two?"

"Yeah. Yang can't. You don't want any. But if Blake and I did... it'd still be yours. You know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean," she said, but her voice sounded like it was coming from a million miles away. "What, you want my permission? It's your body, Ruby. You've never let anything I said stop you before."

"I would this time."

Weiss gave her a hard look.

"I would!" Ruby said, too loudly, her face turning red. "Listen, I just wanted to bring it up with you first because I don't know how to talk to Blake about it. It's... Like, those were plans from _before_. And now I don't know what plans I ought to be making."

"I'd make a terrible parent," Weiss said at last. "I think you would, too. Blake and Yang..." Oh. How would that work? The poor kid would be so fucking confused. "...Would be better at it, I think."

"Yeah." Ruby rested her chin on her hand, returning her gaze to the view out the front windows. "I think so too."

* * *

.

* * *

This time, Winter was already waiting for her. A mixed team of Atlesian Specialists and Vale technicians were already excavating the site, working together to dismantle the mystery of Chevalier Noir.

"No word on any more of the missing huntresses, I'm afraid." Winter walked alongside the two of them, letting Ruby get a feel for the place. If there were any hidden, inaccessible rooms, Ruby was their best chance at finding them. "But we have managed to crack some of the... passwords..." Winter peered at Ruby, perhaps expecting the huntress to correct her turn of phrase. "...To them. To these roaming black knights."

"The Black Knights fight the king in the mountain," Ruby said from behind Weiss.

It didn't escape Winter's attention. She bore down on her, trying to grill her for more information. "What does that mean? The king is the one doing this? Who is killing huntresses? Who were you fighting? Is it the same group that tried to destroy Vale? Were you really in charge, or was Ozpin?"

Ruby stared blankly back at her.

Winter sighed in disgust. They returned to the main room, a bustling hive of activity and glowing white circuitry. "There's no memory access crystals to be found, Weiss. Unless Ruby can remember anything, it looks like this one's a bust."

"Too bad." Appearing without warning and without noise, Whitley looked like a strange apparition in his Specialist uniform. Weiss wasn't sure when he had joined them, or how he managed to sneak up on her. "And I was so looking forward to seeing which dismembered huntresses we'd find along the way."

After a long, measured silence, Weiss spoke. To Winter. "You really should have confirmed that before asking me to fly down here."

"Is seeing your siblings really such a torture, Weiss?" Whitley wanted to know.

"Being away from my job is."

"They'll float along without you. How often do the three of us join up?"

Speaking louder as though to drown out the other two, Winter edged in. "We needed Ruby. She's our only Black Knight we know of who isn't completely locked out of her own memories."

"Probably because she's their leader," Whitley mused.

Annoyingly, Ruby agreed with him. "Yeah."

Grabbing her by the wrist, Weiss kept Ruby at her side. "Then we'll spend a few nights here. Just to be sure."

She still wasn't used to calling all the shots. It felt alien, having Ruby back but also still having all the responsibility. In those empty, lonely years, Weiss rebuilt team RWBY with one letter missing. She held down the fort. She provided.

She was getting a headache.

That night Ruby fell asleep before her, holding onto her for dear life. Weiss was preoccupied, thinking of the few huntresses they had recovered. Thinking about her lovers, left behind at home. About Blake and Ruby having a baby together, making something that linked them in a way that might lock out Yang and Weiss.

She didn't really think it would. But the fact remained that it was a possibility.

It was also pretty telling- she thought, smiling wryly- that she imagined a baby as a _something_ , and not a _someone_.

Weiss stressed so much about it that she fell asleep and dreamt of it, not knowing when reality ended and her own subconscious began.

Two days later and Ruby agreed: it was time to go home. The trips were usually cathartic, in their own way. But this time it was just traumatic. Everything reminded Weiss that Ruby had hurt so many people. That she had damaged herself, perhaps irreparably. There was a chance that somehow Ruby would be punished, but they all studiously avoided talking about it. But what really could she be charged with?

If it was true, if she was really the original Black Knight who started this, then all of the huntresses had joined her of their own volition.

But for what? To fight the king in the mountain? Whoever, or whatever that might be...

"It's not a king," Ruby said again, once, when she asked about it.

She couldn't elaborate.

The return trips home always felt much shorter. Thinking of being back with the people she loved made the miles melt away, but the house was empty when they wandered in.

Ruby dropped all her stuff right at the doorway, yawning hugely.

"It's like six in the morning," she said, toeing off her boots. "Where are they?"

"Work?" Weiss hazarded. These days Blake and Yang mostly worked for her, but the city retained the right to call on any of them if the need arose. Part of being an active adult huntress meant you always had to be ready to return to your duty.

Ruby mumbled something that sounded like an agreement before she pulled her coat off and tossed it over the couch. Forgetting to scold her for being lazy, Weiss took the moment to watch Ruby. Seeing her here, so comfortable, so casual, stirred her like a warm breeze. It was still early enough in Spring to be bitingly cold outside, but Ruby... Ruby made it all feel like summer.

The season. Not the person.

"Are you okay?"

That scar on her lip danced when she spoke.

Shaking her head, Weiss picked up her things and brought them to her room. Ruby trailed after her, throwing herself onto the bed facedown with her arms spread out wide. "You shouldn't do that." Weiss gave her rump a sharp slap as she passed her. "You'll ruin your sleep schedule."

Ruby responded by tugging her down onto the bed with her. If she wanted to, she could have fought it. But she really didn't want to, and Ruby sighed into her neck, snuggling her close.

"I'll take a short nap," she said. "We were flying all night."

 _"I_ was flying all night."

Ruby pressed a kiss to her lips, so hard her head tilted back. "Then you definitely need to nap with me."

There was no easy way to say she didn't want to sleep, she just wanted to look at Ruby, enjoy this moment of quiet without anything to distract her. Threading her fingers through red-streaked hair, she pushed Ruby's bangs from her face to look into her eyes without anything in the way.

Ruby's lips quirked in a smile. "What's up?"

Strands soft as silk were slipping out of her hand, so she combed Ruby's hair back again. "I thought I'd never see you again." She might as well be honest.

Ruby's smile fell. "You would've been better off if that were the case."

This wasn't the first time Ruby made that kind of statement. Weiss knew she carried incredible guilt, that a great part of the reason she stayed away was because she felt she didn't deserve to come home. Not when there were so many other huntresses still out there, even more lost and confused than her. "You were trying to do good things, Ruby. I know you were. I know you'd never do something if you thought it would hurt someone."

Ruby turned her face away, into the pillows. "That's the problem. I didn't _think_. They trusted me, and I let them die. Or wander alone, even more lost and confused than I am."

"And you're working to find them. Whatever it was you were trying to fight, you're still fighting it." She dug in her nails, lightly scratching Ruby's scalp. Soothing her down with gentle touches, like a rescued hound. "And you don't have to do it alone."

She kissed the side of Ruby's neck, unable to ignore the shudder that ran through her body in response. So she did it again, one palm sliding down Ruby's waist to pull her closer. They were pressed together, the hem of Ruby's shirt hitching up enough that Weiss could feel her smooth stomach.

"Let me see it," Weiss said.

After a moment of hesitation, Ruby's hands dropped down to her pants. She unbuttoned them, hitching them down enough to show Weiss what she'd only caught glimpses of. The tattoo of the black knight, her code name.

Thoughtfully, Weiss stroked it with the back of her hand. Her knuckles brushed over it, softly enough that Ruby bit her lip.

Lowering her head, Weiss kissed it gently, an open-mouthed caress of lips and tongue. She wondered if the skin would taste different, marked that way. Sucking, she used her teeth, wanting to leave the white patches red with her own mark.

Above her, Ruby breathed heavily, little trembles in her voice. "U-um. Weiss."

"Yes?"

"...That's really turning me on," she admitted in a mumble.

"That's the point, Ruby." After pressing one more kiss to her hip, Weiss moved on to Ruby's stomach. Then she climbed up, bracing herself with two arms on either side of Ruby's head. "If we're going to stay in bed all day, I want to make the most of it."

"Mm. Efficient."

She cupped her face, smiling when Ruby turned her head just to kiss Weiss on the wrist. "That's why you love me."

It had been years since she'd seen Ruby completely naked. She helped her undress, pulling her shirt over her head and unclasping her bra. Her breasts were the only soft part of her, everything else still lean and hard. Ruby was always eating, but she never seemed to gain any weight. Weiss kept pressuring her to see a doctor about it, but Ruby shuddered at the very idea of letting anyone shove needles and probes into her business.

"Feelin' a little empty-handed here."

Weiss took Ruby by both wrists and setting them firmly on top of her own head. She knew that's not what Ruby meant, but she wanted to explore Ruby without too much distraction.

Ruby stroked her head, grabbing the back of her neck and rolling her thumb in encouraging little circles. Weiss traveled Ruby's both with her mouth and both hands, muscling past the agony of seeing so many scars.

"I'd do anything to protect you," she had to say that. She had to at least say that, even if it didn't scratch the surface of everything she was feeling. "It doesn't matter what we find out there, Ruby. You're mine and I'm not letting you hurt yourself again."

She needed to kiss her lips again. Every casual touch between Ruby's thighs came back streaked with arousal, sticky and clinging and tasting so good when she licked it off. Dipping her hand there again, she kissed her girlfriend slowly, giving her room to breathe and moan against her mouth.

It was like having sex for the very first time. Maybe in some senses it was. Slow and halting, questioning every stroke until she found a good rhythm. One protective arm looped around Ruby's head, letting her rest against Weiss' chest. They shifted a bit, side by side now with Ruby's leg thrown over her hip.

Ruby tightened around her fingers, bucking her hips forward faster and faster until she ground out her pleasure against Weiss' palm. Hot, clenching walls gripped and fluttered, a gasp escaping Ruby as she slowly wound down.

The steady pulse anchored Weiss, sudden exhaustion claiming her as Ruby snuggled closer. Ruby stripped her bare in more ways than one, whining in delight at the press of skin on skin.

Then there was a loud knock at the door. "Can we join in, or is it private time?"

Untangling herself from Ruby, Weiss breathlessly answered. "Yang?"

"The one and only."

"I'm here too," Blake's low voice rumbled. "Just wanted to see if you were really home. Come on Yang, leave them be."

Exchanging a look, Ruby and Weiss shrugged. After raking a hand through her hair, Weiss searched for a robe. From outside, she heard Yang whining. "Aww, but I want to say hello!"

Rolling her eyes, Weiss cinched the robe around her waist and opened the door. "It's good to see you too, Y-"

Yang had one arm braced on the doorway, standing in a comfortable slouch as she smirked down at Weiss. She was perfectly naked, perfect as Yang always was, with her dark brown sunkissed skin and her tight muscled body right _there_ , ready to be touched, and Weiss was already so turned on that the blood rushing to her face almost made her faint on the spot.

"Oh!" she shouted, and slammed the door in Yang's face before bracing her back against it, like that naked, beautiful woman might try to batter it down.

From the other side, she could hear Blake and Yang burst into wild laughter.

"I can't believe you actually did that." Blake was on the verge of tears, gasping for air. "Come here, babe. You can have my coat."

"What?" Ruby was sitting up now, groping around for a shirt and shrugging it on. She shook her hair free from the collar, looking rumpled and sleepy and cute. "What, what happened? I didn't see."

"Yang's naked," Weiss said.

"Nice."

A fist pounded on the door. "Aaaww, Weiss, I'm just teasing you! I'm decent now. Can I get a kiss hello?"

Inching the door open to peek outside and confirm it for herself, Weiss scowled. Yang was wearing Blake's trenchcoat, and though they were equal in height, the breadth of Yang's chest didn't quite... fit correctly. Her cleavage threatened to spill out above straining buttons, and Weiss had to remind herself that being eye-level with your partners' chests meant that certain views were inevitable. "You can. But only because I love you and I missed you."

Yang pulled the door open before leaning down expectantly, her hands clasped behind her back. She didn't close the distance, waiting for Weiss to grudgingly arch up and peck her on the lips. "Mwah. I missed you too." Granted permission now, Yang cupped the back of Weiss' head and brought her close for another kiss. "Mwah. I missed you." She kissed her again on both her cheeks. "Mwah. I missed you. Mwah. I missed you!"

With both arms around her waist, Yang easily picked up Weiss to kiss her on the lips again. "Mmwwwaah."

Pushing Yang's shoulders, Weiss kicked her legs and tried to struggle free. "Okay, okay! I was only gone a few days."

Blake kept a careful distance, arms crossed and smiling thinly. "I'd say hello too, but..." Blake's eyes raked over her once, making her feel like a pair of hands were running all along her body. "Well, Yang's in the way."

It was hard to think clearly when her hands still smelled like Ruby, and Yang's half-naked body pinned her up against the wall. Nuzzling her face against Weiss' head, Yang kept peppering her with kisses as Blake moved a little closer. "That doesn't have to stop you."

Blake looked thoughtful, stepping closer to pull Yang's hair back from the collar of their borrowed coat. Black-gloved hands wove through the tangled waves, shiny and soft as spun gold. They worked it into a quick braid, producing a pin from their own coat pocket to keep Yang's hair in a messy updo. "So you don't mind that we're not alone, love?"

The faunus gripped Yang by the back of the neck, making her sigh in delight. "Oh, no. A-are you two... right now?" The complaints weren't taken very seriously when Blake forced her to tilt her head, exposing her neck to Weiss' teeth.

"Are you two playing weird sex games again?" Ruby accused.

Yang had just enough presence of mind to answer. "They're always..." Weiss unbuttoned her coat, opening it to expose Yang's chest to her teeth. "...playing weird sex games." The coat dropped to the floor and Blake kicked it aside. "And I get caught in the middle when they get frustrated."

Blake tilted her head back now, grasping Yang by the throat as the other hand explored her from behind. The leather came back shiny with arousal, painted clear stripes on Yang's naked hip when Blake wiped it clean against her.

Blake purred, so deep Weiss could almost feel it radiate through Yang's body. "I wouldn't need to use you as a pawn if Weiss would let me touch her."

Claiming a kiss so that Yang wouldn't get distracted by idle chatter, Weiss tugged on her hand, insistently directing it between her legs. The relief was almost instantaneous, but it was a side thought to the point of the game. They both needed to vent on Yang, needed to feel her come, and it was simply impossible to do that unless Yang was knuckle-deep in at least one of her partners.

"Oh...you're so wet." Yang's voice dropped several registers lower, husky and agonized. "Ruby already got to you. That's so hot."

Weiss glanced over at Ruby, who was sitting on the bed with her chin in her hands. She watched, grinning hugely. "Not really. You interrupted."

"I'm sorry." Yang's hips canted forward, a noise of shock escaping her as Weiss thrust a hand between her legs. She squirmed, shifting her legs wider to let them tease at her entrance. Her fingers stroked over Blake's once, so slick with come that the motion was fluid, frictionless. It sent a thrill up Weiss's spine that the only way she'd touch them again was through the act of sharing Yang. "Hrn. God I. Fuck. Fuck, if you want to stop, it's really okay. I'm sorry."

Huffing with laughter, Blake held her upright again as she started to teeter, instinctively trying to bend forward, to encourage Blake to take her from behind while she busied her mouth with Weiss. "Don't lie."

"But Ruby... You don't have to- with me..."

Blake had to yank her back again, the grip around her neck tightening as a reminder. "Ruby will still be there when we're done with you."

There were few sweeter truths.

She knew Yang liked it best when she was used, stretched thin between her partners until they were satisfied. But when she and Blake ganged up on her like this she could come, a guttural curse leaving her lips as her scent mingled with Ruby's, staining Weiss' palm.

"Oh, god." Once released, Yang could finally lean forward, rest her forehead on Weiss's shoulder. "God."

Weiss soothed her down, petting her hair and her sweaty face. Blake planted kisses all over her heaving shoulders, fingers still working her deep inside. Then she and Blake locked eyes and unfulfilled need sparked up again, Weiss so close to the edge she could almost teeter over if she gave up control.

"You're wearing too many clothes," she said to Blake, her hands on Yang's waist. The collar on their dress shirt was undone, the tie discarded a long time ago. But out of the four of them, Blake was still the only one wearing pants.

"Because I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet, unlike you."

Weiss cocked an eyebrow. "You gave up the moment I said no touching."

"Will you two _please_ fuck already," Yang groaned, fingers slipping free of Weiss.

The two of them paused.

"Hmmm..." Blake said.

So Yang rolled her eyes and wiggled free, turning around to kiss Blake. The faunus instinctively responded, eagerly letting Yang undress them piece by piece. She reached up to rub along Blake's cat ears, handling them roughly and scratching them the way Blake liked.

"Please fuck Weiss for me," Yang whispered, unbuckling their pants. She cupped a hand between their legs, letting Weiss take a turn painting bruises all over her back, leaving teeth marks on her skin.

Without warning, they shifted back to that effortless connection, the partnership that started with eyes meeting in the forest. Soft, meaningless promises purred. "How do you want me to do that?"

Huh. Using Yang as a truce-breaker never really crossed her mind. "Do I get a say in this at all?" Weiss said, just to be difficult still.

"Do you really _want_ a say in this?" Blake snapped back.

Weiss remained stubbornly quiet.

"That's what I thought." Finally Blake touched her. Not incidentally, while fucking Yang, but all of their maddening, powerful strength focused solely on her. Blake's grip bruised her, a hand that wrapped completely around her forearm with a single fist. "I've tortured you long enough that you're desperate for anything I'd give you."

She resented how true it was, how she was reduced to nothing but want when her hand skirted over Blake's naked chest. Having Blake kiss her after being denied so long made her more wet than she could believe.

"And Ruby and Yang almost undid all I'd set up..."

Blake kept her on her toes, strong arms holding her high enough to kiss without effort. Yang's head was the only thing steady she could grip onto as the blonde dropped to her knees, her tongue trying to finish what her hands had started.

"Sorry about that." A rush of cold wind almost made her twitch as Ruby finally joined them, rose petals scattering around her. "But hey, less work for you now?"

"As if I shy away from hard work." Without any gloves or barriers, Blake carefully worked around Yang so as not to distract her. They pulled her legs wider so they could thrust a pair of fingers inside her, forcing Weiss to balance on one foot. A supportive hand braced on the small of her back, Ruby's mouth latched onto Weiss' chest, kissing her everywhere that Blake or Yang couldn't reach.

She didn't even come. She exploded, an indescribable noise torn from her throat as Blake's fingers twisted inside her, and Yang's tongue mercilessly worked her clit, and Ruby's lips sucking the hardened peak of her nipple. She thrashed, forcing them to steady her, and she was positive if they hadn't she might have flung herself onto the floor.

It was over in a flash. It had arrived sudden and so sharp there was no come-down, just a mess. Weiss stared blankly ahead, panting wildly, her heart beating out of control.

And then she started to laugh, shaking so hard that she really did need to be held or she would collapse. She must have said as much, even though her ears were ringing and words didn't quite make sense. Picking her up, Ruby carried her over to the bed. Weiss just groaned, flopping over face-first.

"Done already?" Blake said, insufferably smug.

"Fuck you." She could barely get the words out; the whole world didn't feel real. From some distance away Weiss could hear Ruby gasping her name, and then movement, fierce rutting and grunting. When her vision wasn't so blurry she realized it was Yang and Ruby sprawled out next to her, Ruby on top and grinding on Yang's thigh, their hands locked tight.

God, they were so beautiful. They twisted and shone with sweat, like a glittering pair of jewels. Still a little delirious, Weiss had to touch them to know they were real. Propped up on her side, she stroked a hand down Ruby's back, the easiest thing to reach. Then down the straining muscles of Yang's arms, pinned down against the mattress as Ruby fucked her.

Blake curled up behind her, watching them as well with their chin resting on Weiss' shoulder. She was so glad they'd undressed, so now Weiss could feel nothing but skin everywhere she moved. She was surrounded by it, soft and hard at the same time, corded muscle and knotted scar tissue.

After a whispered plea and another pass of a hand over her sticky thighs, she realized Blake was grinding against her ass, begging to fuck her too. Reaching behind her to stroke furred ears, Weiss gripped them tight as Blake's sex pushed inside her, the angle making it a tight fit but in a good way. She could feel every inch of them, and she half-expected the faunus to try and match Ruby's pace. But it was slow, measured. Pulsing inside her, occasionally rubbing right past that spot of pleasure that Blake could always find with their fingers.

She lived for those bright moments of pure ecstasy, since Blake denied her any other source of stimulation.

Then without warning that deep, easy rhythm ground to a halt. Blake thrust once, hard, pushed all the way up to the base and stayed there. Weiss could feel them tremble, whole body shaking uncontrollably. "Fuck." Blake bowed their head, squeezing onto Weiss for dear life. "Fuck. It's too soon."

Weiss could barely bite back a smirk. All it took was a careful roll of her hips to shred apart Blake's precious control. Blake's hands pulled Weiss onto them, a breathless shout muffled into the pillows. They cried nonsense as they came, only some of it stringing into something Weiss could understand in between _I love you, I love you, god, fuck._

"I wanted to feel you." Blake's fingers desperately found her clit, rubbing tight circles under her hood. "I wanted to feel you come again for me, please, Weiss."

Everything around her pushed her so close to the edge already that she didn't need any more than that. Feeling Blake come inside her was seductive enough, that rush of being used, and the mess, and Blake raggedly gasping in her ear. It was a deep, throbbing orgasm, and Blake moaned to feel her tighten reflexively around them.

They'd never done this before, all four of them at the same time. It occurred to her then that there was a good reason why: it was fucking cramped. But more importantly, it never seemed to end. They fed off each other's sparks, kindling a flame from smoldering ashes.

She couldn't remember exactly when it ended but she knew when she was done, crouching over Ruby face with Blake lazily growing soft in her mouth. And Yang, of course, cracking a joke once she settled down, licking her lips clean. "We'll never get anything done now."

"I could get dinner done." Winded, Blake didn't seem so confident in that statement. But they would give a gallant effort, Weiss knew. "Or lunch." They squinted, falling down next to Ruby and covering her in kisses. "What time is it?"

Weiss found she couldn't answer. One hand was tangled in a golden sheaf of hair, the other linked with Ruby's.

She remembered vaguely that there was still so much to be done. That she'd spent the whole day in bed making love to her partners and if anyone in her family knew they'd disown her all over again. That one of her partners lived a dangerous, terrible lie, that she still needed to work hard to fix all she'd wrought.

But Weiss couldn't think about that yet.

"Is everyone okay." She was too tired to shape it into a question.

She waited for the agreement, the quiet assents. The assurances, the bodies close to her. The heartbeats, strong and faithful.

"Okay," she said, quietly. "Okay."

She passed into sleep without a fight, dreamless. Relieved.


End file.
